Understanding Fair Trade Clothing: Seals & Standards Explained

Fair Trade translates to "fairer Handel" (fair trade). It refers to a trade approach based on dialogue, transparency, and respect that aims to strengthen the position of producers in international trade. The most well-known system is Fairtrade: for certain raw materials like cotton, a Fairtrade minimum price applies—or the market price if it is higher. In addition, a Fairtrade premium is paid, the use of which is decided by the producer organization.

Certification systems such as Fairtrade set specific social, environmental, and economic requirements and have their compliance monitored according to the rules of the respective system. A label indicates which standard applies to a product, a raw material, or a production stage—not automatically to the entire supply chain. Social requirements can also be documented without a Fairtrade label, for example through the social criteria of GOTS certification or a brand's membership in the Fair Wear Foundation. Fair Wear does not certify individual items of clothing.

GREEN SHIRTS was founded in 2012 to offer fashion with transparent information regarding material and origin. Basics with unique designs and a streetwear look that is reinterpreted season after season are what many notice about us first. Just as important to us is what our clothing is made of and where it is produced.

In many textile factories worldwide, long working hours, a lack of employment contracts, restricted trade union rights, and wages below the legal minimum wage remain a problem today. Our own designs are sewn in Bangladesh, India, and Turkey and finished in Germany. Our code of conduct applies to our production partners. We indicate which certificates and verification documents are available for a product on the respective item page.

The Fairtrade system focuses on the cultivation and trade of cotton. Producers join together in cooperatives for this purpose. This is intended to strengthen their bargaining position with traders and support the development of their own organizations. The system's goals also include strengthening the role of women, for example through equal rights in the cooperatives and access to training.

Fairtrade-certified cotton is subject to a Fairtrade Minimum Price or the higher market price, as well as an additional Fairtrade Premium. The producer organizations decide how the premium is used according to the system's rules. However, the Fairtrade Cotton seal does not automatically mean that all subsequent stages of a garment's production are also certified according to this standard.

Fairtrade and organic describe different characteristics: Fairtrade Cotton concerns the cultivation and trade of cotton, while "organic" refers to the ecological cultivation of the fiber in accordance with the underlying standard. A product may have organic certification, Fairtrade certification, both, or neither.

At GREEN SHIRTS, we carry products made from Fairtrade-certified cotton, among others. Which products these are and what other certifications apply can be found with the respective item.