Quality Seals

Leather and textiles that are made into clothing have always been an important aspect of our culture.  They are economic factors, means of communication and further our wellbeing.  They can also make us sick, pollute our environment or dramatically reduce the quality of life for people who work with them.

As a result, more and more people opt for eco-friendly textiles and leather goods. The two IVN quality seals „Naturtextil IVN certified BEST“ and „Naturleder IVN zertifiziert“ in addition to the „Global Organic Textile Standard“ were developed in order to provide consumers with a definition of what eco-friendly textiles and leather mean and to readily communicate whether the product they have in hand meets these criterion.

Naturtextil IVN zertifiziert BEST

This quality seal, well known within Europe, currently sets the strictest ecological standard for textile production at the highest technical level currently feasible.  BEST reflects the standards for eco-friendly textiles developed by the International Association of Natural Textile Industry (IVN) since 1990 and reviews the entire textile production chain both in terms of ecological standards and in terms of social accountability.

Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)

This internationally recognized standard is awarded by the „International Working Group on GOTS" . IVN is a member of this group.  Therefore GOTS is an indirect IVN standard, despite the fact that IVN was a leader in its development.  The now defunct standard „IVN zertifiziert“ was inspiration and role model for the new GOTS standard and many of its provisions were integrated into GOTS.

The inspection and certification system applied by the Oeko-Tex® Standard 100 meets the manifold demands on quality of consumers as well as taking into account the complex production conditions in the textile sector: global organization; strong international division of labor; different mentalities in terms of the employment of possibly problematic materials.

• Manufacture of textile products of all kinds that are harmless in terms of human ecology.
• Facilitation and acceleration of supply relationships between producers and dealers who wish to provide their customers with textile products that are flawless in terms of health.
• A reliable product labeling for consumers who consciously pay heed to textiles that are harmless in terms of health.

Protected products are fibers of high quality deriving from new cotton fibers. The right to use the International Cotton Emblem is granted to the company by the Bremen Cotton Exchange under the condition that – through deployment of preliminary products made of high-quality fibers deriving from new cotton fibers – products are manufactured whose cotton content amounts to 100%, without consideration of linings, interlinings or accessories; whereby tolerances of 5% for purposes of decoration and effect, and of 3% for foreign fibers, are acceptable. Contractual products may not include, in particular, blended fabrics that are only partially made of cotton fibers, as well as fabrics whose cotton content is below 92%, bearing in mind tolerances. The cotton fiber content of a product is calculated by weight percentage. The licenser has the right to change the demands on the contractual products and introduce advanced quality regulations after consultation with the licensee so as to safeguard the value and prestige of the International Cotton Emblem.