The Global Organic Textile Standard, better known by its acronym GOTS, celebrates its 20th anniversary this October. As a leading standard for environmentally friendly materials that integrates social and environmental criteria, the organization is launching a campaign to mark the occasion, billed as “anti-greenwashing”.

Named “Faces from field to fashion”, the campaign consists of a series of video portraits of textile professionals from all continents working in GOTS-certified units. The carefully staged sequences aim to highlight the 4 million employees working in these plants and their know-how.

“Our goal is to enable people to say no to greenwashing and yes to GOTS,” said the labeling and control network. This has historically distinguished itself from other major certification labels, especially in the cotton sector. GOTS establishes labeling and inspection procedures that are overseen by accredited third parties independent of the label.

Cotton, wool, silk and other products are certified from the initial processing stages through spinning, weaving, knitting and wet processing to garment manufacture. Although it is difficult to put a figure on the proportion of materials produced to GOTS standards, the organization appears many times in Textile Exchange’s recent report on global fiber production. However, one figure stands out: the number of GOTS-certified production units has risen from 10 388 to 12 340 between 2020 and 2021.

The Global Organic Textile Standard is now in its sixth iteration (version 6.0). The next version (7.0) should theoretically be presented in March 2023. In preparation, Gots is conducting a consultation phase with industry professionals until the end of October on the direction that the labels and certifications issued by the organization will take. A review process that can be accessed through the Gots portal.

OIA has been with GOTS since its inception, with a long history in the certification of the textile standard, accredited since 2009. We have a team of professionals with experience in certifications of this type and who have collaborated in the development of the only official textile standard in the world today, which corresponds to the Argentine Organic Standard.

Source: pe.fashionnetwork