2009 March | Inhabiteriors

GOTS%20Logo%20middle What is GOTS Certification?

Global Organics Textile Standard

The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) emerged in 2002 at the Intercot Conference in Düsseldorf, Germany, at the behest of manufacturers, retailers, and customers of organic textiles. Before 2002, a variety of different standards and draft standards existed in the organic textiles market, and the industry perceived a need for a harmonized, globally recognized, and easy to understand standard for organic textiles.

The International Working Group on Global Organic Textile Standard formed and began working on a standard that suppliers, producers, and consumers of organic textiles could agree to. The first version of the GOTS was created in mid-2005. The most recent version of the standard, as well the logo and licensing system, were adopted in 2008. More information about the formation and details of the standard can be found here: http://www.global-standard.org/.

Knowing whether or not a fabric has been completely certified by GOTS can be quite confusing, because GOTS certifies weavers, spinners, dyers, and printers.

To illustrate, let’s imagine a finished fabric that has been dyed and printed. First, the spinner must use organically certified fibers to create the thread that will be woven into fabric. Any recognized certification body in the world can certify the fiber as organic according if the standards are recognized by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM).

Afterwards, each process that touches the fabric has to have GOTS certification in order for the final fabric to be certified. This includes weavers, dyers, and printers. In other words, a fabric may have a GOTS certified component, like yarn, but may not the complete certification.

Overall, take care when purchasing certified organic fabrics! It is hard to find a completely GOTS certified textile; however, Inhabiteriors is confident that O Ecotextiles carefully vets the whole production process for all of the company’s fabrics!