What the labels actually certify
Organic
“Organic” describes the fiber, not the finished product
On a label, “organic” means the raw fiber was grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. It says nothing about what happened next - the bleaching, dyeing, printing and sewing.
It does not say how much of the product is organic either. A garment can be sold as “organic cotton” while the thread, trims and prints are conventional.
On textiles the word is not protected the way it is on food: anyone can print it. The labels below close that gap - each is audited, and carries a license number you can check.
Wool and silk can be organic too, on the same terms. There, “organic” describes how the animals were kept and fed. Animal welfare is a separate question: the Responsible Wool Standard covers it and rules out mulesing.
Leather is an exception: GOTS and IVN BEST do not cover it at all. For leather products such as handbags that are listed on the site, the sole requirement is that the product is free of plastic.
GOTS
GOTS - the fiber, and everything done to it after
GOTS checks the fiber and every step from field to finished article. Two grades, and the label says which: “organic” is at least 95% certified organic fiber, “made with organic” at least 70%.
It also bans many dyes and finishes, requires wastewater treatment, and sets working-condition rules.
A real GOTS product shows the logo with a license number. That number is what makes the claim checkable.
OEKO-TEX
STANDARD 100 - tested for harmful substances, whatever the fiber
This one asks a different question: does the finished article give off substances known to be harmful? Every part is tested - fabric, thread, buttons, zips, prints.
The strictest limits apply to things made for babies and toddlers, who mouth them and sleep against them.
It says nothing about organic farming or working conditions. A fully synthetic product can be OEKO-TEX certified: it was tested, not grown.
IVN BEST
IVN BEST - the strictest, and the rarest
From the German natural-textile association that co-founded GOTS. It covers the same ground and sets the bar higher almost everywhere.
Where GOTS accepts 95% organic fiber, IVN BEST requires 100%, trims included. Fewer dyes are allowed and residue limits are tighter.
Very few products carry it, so its absence tells you almost nothing - an excellent organic item is usually GOTS.
kbT
kbT - how the animals were kept
Short for kontrolliert biologische Tierhaltung, “certified organic animal husbandry”. German wool houses print it where a cotton mill would print GOTS. Its plant equivalent, kbA, covers crops.
It means the farms were audited to EU organic rules: organic feed, room to move, no routine antibiotics, and no mulesing.
It stops at the farm. It says nothing about the dyeing, spinning or finishing, so it is not a substitute for GOTS - a fleece can be kbT and the yarn dyed conventionally.
We accept it as a stated certification on wool, and label it kbT rather than folding it in with the others.
Nordic Ecolabel
The Swan - an environmental label, not an organic one
The official ecolabel of the Nordic countries, run by their governments since 1989. It covers many kinds of product, textiles among them.
On a textile it weighs the whole life of the item: chemicals, water, energy, how long it lasts, and what is left in the finished product.
It is not an organic-fiber standard. A Swan-labeled textile may still contain conventional or recycled fiber. Read it as “made with less harm”, not “made from organic fiber”.