Have you seen how hard it is to find a certain item on the internet which is from sustainable companies? If you type on google “black dress” I am pretty sure the first option of websites that will be given to you will be H&M, ASOS, Next.com, boohoo, miss-guided. None of those are sustainable. None of those are ethical. Of course, they are extremely cheap and of bad quality but non are creating garments to last.

If you believe H&M with their “conscious” collection is worth buying from, this is your choice. But I believe that, looking at the profit they make yearly, their impact on the fast fashion industry and their possibility to, by increasing their product by £2 to £5, actually improve their ethics this is not a company worth buying from. Be careful to not be fooled by those company that attract you with their greenwashing or their promise of a better and more sustainable future.

Here is what this all post is about: fashion brand certifications.

Fashion brand certification

PETA

The most popular one would be PETA.

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). They are committed to the animals and their “accurate” treatment. Their certificate is for vegan products only, not cruelty-free. If you see a brand with this certificate you can be assured that no animals have been used in the products. However, it won’t say if the products have been used or tried on animals. To get this certificate the brand needs to send proof of the material used. After a lot of researches, it looks like there are no strict ook into each brand. Hence, you need to trust the brand. I am pretty sure that if a brand has a PETA vegan certificate and is found to not comply with the vegan expectations, the vegan community will be waiting for them, if you know what I mean.

PETA certification fee: if the annual revenue is up to $15000 the fee is $250.

Certified B corporation:

This certification is getting more common as it is one of the hardest to get. As it is a corporation it works a bit differently than others. They look not only into the environmental aspect but also at their interactions with their employees and communities. They look into legal requirements as well as performance. The certification fee is based on the annual sales and is quite expensive. For an amount of sales from $0-$150000 the fee would be $1000 (which is the lowest amount you pay).

If a company has the B certification you can buy anything from them with peace of mind.

Organic textile:

Also known as GOTS this certification looks into the textile of every garments to ensure its origin and the process of production. they do not only look at the organic fibres of each textiles but also the overall process to make sure it is as sustainable as possible. They have a wide range of obligation for the companies they certify. They condemn the use of chemicals in the products but can still use low impact ones. A review on the impact on the water and air is done for each company and a review of the plan to reduce this impact is asked which I think is absolutely amazing!!This certification is the best for you to ensure that your clothes have been created properly and are not harming the environment nor the garments workers.

The annual certification is ranging from $1000 to $1500. However on top of that their is a license fee that you need to have which costs $150.

Cruelty-free and vegan

Unlike the first one by PETA which does not involve the testing on animals, this certifications does. It is also from PETA company. The companies need to prove that no testing has been done on the animals during any moment of the process: from the fiber production to the final products. As always, the “problem” with PETA is that they took the company to world and do not monitor or test the products themselves. The fees are the same than the vegan logo.

If you are looking for another cruelty free certification you can look into the leaping bunny programme. Their fees are independent on gross sales, and the entrance and approved fee is $149.

Why are they important but not always necessary:

As you can see it exists a lot of different certifications. Depending on the brand: a new starter from scratch or an established brand, those costs a lot of money. After talking with a lot of small brand with a limited beginning budget, they do not have the money to have those logos added to their website and this should not be a problem. As long as the brand you are looking at is 100% transparent on the materials used during the production, the way they treat their employee or certification of the factory they work with, their impact on the environment you can pretty sure they are ethical.

However, if your brand has money or if you see a brand with those logos this is helping. It means the work of researching the brand has been done for you. Of course, all the certifications do not mean the same thing, hence you still need to have a quick look. But those third-party audits are neutral. It is not because you pay for the survey that you will get it.