"Sustainable", "eco-friendly", "consciously produced": the clothing industry is full of claims that are difficult to verify. Every brand says it produces responsibly, but the substance behind that statement varies enormously. A claim on a product page with nothing behind it has no evidential value. A recognised third-party certification does.

Sustainable clothing certifications are schemes in which an independent organisation checks whether a brand or manufacturer meets specific standards. Those standards can cover the safety of the fabric for the wearer, the use of organic or recycled raw materials, the environmental burden of the production process, or working conditions in the supply chain.

This article explains the eight most relevant certifications: what each one checks, what it guarantees, what it does not cover, and how to verify it yourself.

Why do clothing certifications matter more from September 2026?

Certifications give consumers an objective, verifiable basis for making choices, independent of a brand's own marketing. From 27 September 2026 they also become a legal necessity in the EU, because generic environmental claims without proof are prohibited from that date.

"A brand can call itself sustainable without anyone checking. A certification from OEKO-TEX or GOTS means an independent party has tested the fabric or the production process against concrete standards. That is the fundamental difference."

Rick Ros, founder of Neycko Menswear

The regulatory context changed recently and materially. Directive (EU) 2024/825, the Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive, was adopted in February 2024, had to be transposed into national law by 27 March 2026 and applies from 27 September 2026 across all 27 member states.

From that date, four practices become prohibited in consumer-facing communication:

• Generic environmental claims without proof, including words such as "eco-friendly", "green" and "sustainable" used on their own.
• Sustainability labels not based on a recognised certification scheme, which rules out self-created logos.
• Claims about a whole product or business where the benefit applies only to one specific aspect.
• Offset-based neutrality claims, such as "carbon neutral" achieved through purchased credits.

The practical consequence for shoppers is straightforward. A certification is no longer a nice extra. It is becoming the only basis on which an environmental claim can legally be made to consumers in the EU.

What is OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100?

OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 is the most widely used certification in clothing. It guarantees that every component of a garment, including fabric, thread, buttons and zips, has been tested for harmful substances and found safe for human contact.

The scheme was established in 1992 and is operated by the OEKO-TEX Association through a network of independent member institutes. Certified articles are tested against a criteria catalogue covering more than 1,000 substances, including banned azo dyes, formaldehyde, pesticides, heavy metals and substances restricted under REACH. Limit values are reviewed at least annually.

Requirements tighten with skin contact. The standard uses four product classes, with Class I for babies and toddlers applying the strictest limits, Class II for products with direct skin contact such as shirts and underwear, Class III for outerwear and Class IV for furnishing textiles. Certificates run for one year and require annual renewal, with an on-site audit in the first year and every third year thereafter.

For techno jersey the standard is particularly relevant, since the fabric sits close to the skin and is worn intensively. What it does not do is say anything about the production process or working conditions. It certifies the safety of the finished product for the wearer, nothing more.

What is GOTS certification?

GOTS, the Global Organic Textile Standard, is the leading international certification for organic textiles. It covers the entire chain from fibre cultivation to finishing, and combines environmental criteria with social criteria for workers.

GOTS operates at two grades. The "made with organic" grade requires a minimum of 70 percent certified organic fibres. The "organic" grade requires at least 95 percent. Chemical treatments such as bleaching and dyeing face strict restrictions under both, and processors must meet social criteria based on International Labour Organization conventions.

For techno jersey in its usual composition of polyamide and elastane, full GOTS certification is not achievable, because synthetic fibres are not organically grown. Blends containing organic cotton alongside synthetic fibres can qualify for certification on the organic portion, provided the thresholds are met.

GOTS is most relevant for brands working with organic cotton, linen or wool. It is the wrong benchmark to apply to a technical synthetic fabric, and a brand that offers one should not be criticised for lacking the other.

What is the Global Recycled Standard?

GRS, the Global Recycled Standard, certifies recycled content in textiles and guarantees traceability of that material through the whole production chain. It also covers social and environmental practices at supplier level.

GRS is managed by Textile Exchange. Certification applies to products containing at least 20 percent recycled material, while use of the GRS logo on a product generally requires at least 50 percent. Beyond content percentage, the standard covers chemical restrictions, environmental practices and social criteria at each processing stage.

For techno jersey made from recycled polyamide or recycled polyester, GRS is the most directly relevant certification. Brands using recycled nylon from discarded fishing nets, or recycled polyester from bottles, can substantiate that claim through GRS rather than asserting it.

Our article on the sustainability of techno jersey covers the material properties in more detail, including the drawbacks.

What is the bluesign standard?

bluesign focuses on the production process rather than the finished product. It targets the reduction of harmful chemicals, water use and energy use in manufacturing, and is particularly established in performance and sportswear.

Founded in Switzerland, bluesign works on input stream management: rather than testing the final garment, it approves the chemicals, processes and facilities used to make it. A bluesign-approved fabric has been produced in an environment meeting defined environmental, health and safety criteria, including correct treatment of production wastewater.

For techno jersey and synthetic performance fabrics, bluesign is among the most relevant certifications available, because dyeing and finishing are the stages where chemical use is heaviest. It does not verify raw material origin, which is the role of GRS, and it does not certify finished-product safety for the wearer, which is the role of OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100. The three are complementary rather than competing.

Which other certifications are worth knowing?

Four further schemes appear regularly on garment labels. Each covers a narrower or different question than the four main standards above.

Recycled Claim Standard (RCS)

RCS is a simpler counterpart to GRS, also managed by Textile Exchange. It verifies the percentage of recycled fibre and its chain of custody, without the additional social, environmental and chemical requirements GRS imposes. It is a reasonable starting point for brands beginning a transition to recycled inputs, and it offers less assurance than GRS.

Cradle to Cradle Certified

Cradle to Cradle assesses a product across five categories: material health, product circularity, clean air and climate protection, water and soil stewardship, and social fairness. Products are awarded a level in each category, from Bronze through Silver and Gold to Platinum. It is still relatively rare in textiles, since blended fabrics are difficult to recycle cleanly.

OEKO-TEX MADE IN GREEN

MADE IN GREEN combines harmful-substance testing with verification that the product was made in socially responsible and environmentally managed facilities. Each labelled item carries a unique ID or QR code allowing the buyer to trace where it was produced.

Fairtrade and social standards

Fairtrade and comparable schemes focus on labour conditions and fair payment rather than materials or chemicals. They are most established in cotton supply chains, where the raw material is farmed.

How do the main certifications compare?

The table below sets out the eight most relevant schemes, what each verifies, what each leaves out and where each is most applicable.

Certification	Verifies	Does not cover	Relevant for synthetics	Relevant for cotton
OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100	Harmful substances in the finished product	Production process, labour	Yes	Yes
OEKO-TEX MADE IN GREEN	Substances plus audited production and traceability	Raw material origin	Yes	Yes
GOTS	Organic fibre content plus ethical supply chain	Synthetic fibres	Limited, blends only	Yes
GRS	Recycled content plus traceability and supplier practice	Wearer safety	Yes	Yes
bluesign	Chemicals, water and energy in manufacturing	Raw material origin, wearer safety	Yes	Yes
RCS	Recycled percentage and chain of custody	Environmental and social practice	Yes	Yes
Cradle to Cradle	Full life cycle across five categories	Single-issue depth	Limited	Yes
Fairtrade	Labour conditions and fair payment	Materials and chemicals	Limited	Yes

How do you verify a certification yourself?

A credible certification has three characteristics: it is issued by an independent third party, its standards are published openly, and any individual certificate can be checked in a public database. If any of the three is missing, treat the claim as marketing.

Practical checks:

• OEKO-TEX certificates can be verified through the Label Check tool on the OEKO-TEX website using the certificate number or product ID.
• GOTS certificates are searchable in the public GOTS database by licensee name.
• GRS and RCS certificates are verifiable through Textile Exchange.
• bluesign maintains a public list of system partners.

Warning signs worth acting on: claims such as "eco-friendly" or "responsibly produced" with no certificate attached, house-made logos designed to resemble recognised marks, and certificate numbers that cannot be found in any database. From 27 September 2026 the second of those is explicitly prohibited in the EU, since sustainability labels must be based on a recognised certification scheme verified by an independent third party.

The presence of several recognised certifications together, such as OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 alongside GRS, is a considerably stronger signal than any single label used in isolation.

Frequently asked questions

What are the most important certifications for sustainable clothing?

The five most widely recognised are OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 for chemical safety, GOTS for organic and ethical textiles, GRS for recycled materials, bluesign for environmentally managed production, and Fairtrade for labour conditions. For synthetic fabrics such as techno jersey, OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100, GRS and bluesign are the most applicable.

What does OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 guarantee?

It guarantees that every component of a garment, from the outer fabric to the buttons and sewing thread, has been tested against a catalogue of more than 1,000 harmful substances and meets defined limit values. It confirms the item is safe for prolonged skin contact. It does not verify the production process or working conditions.

Can techno jersey be GOTS certified?

Not in its standard composition of polyamide and elastane, because GOTS requires a minimum percentage of certified organic fibre and synthetics are not organically grown. Blends containing organic cotton can carry certification on the organic portion. For synthetic fabrics, GRS and bluesign are the appropriate standards to look for instead.

What is the difference between GRS and RCS?

GRS requires full traceability of recycled fibres through the chain and also verifies social, environmental and chemical practices at supplier level. RCS verifies only the recycled percentage and chain of custody. GRS offers more assurance; RCS is simpler to obtain and is often a first step for brands.

How do I check whether a sustainability certification is genuine?

Every serious scheme publishes a searchable database. OEKO-TEX certificates can be checked via Label Check using the certificate number, GOTS certificates through the public GOTS database, and GRS certificates through Textile Exchange. Brands with genuine certification state the certificate number on the product page or the garment label.

Conclusion

Certifications for sustainable clothing are not a marketing device but a verification mechanism. They give buyers an objective basis for separating checked practice from unchecked claims, and each one answers a different question.

The most useful mapping is by material. OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 for chemical safety of the finished garment, GRS for recycled synthetic fibres, bluesign for manufacturing processes, GOTS for organic cotton, linen and wool.

One practical change is worth noting before you shop again. From 27 September 2026, generic claims such as "sustainable" used without proof, and self-created sustainability labels, are prohibited in consumer communication across the EU. A brand that still relies on an unbacked word rather than a verifiable certificate is now telling you something useful about itself.

For more on the material side, read our guide to travel fabric and our article on the biggest frustrations in menswear, which covers how to judge quality that lasts.

Discover the Neycko collection

At Neycko, quality is central to every garment. Browse the trouser collection, the polo collection and the newest models in the new-in collection, made from Italian techno jersey. Read the full Dutch guide: certificeringen duurzame kleding: wat betekenen de keurmerken?