How to Tell if a Fashion Brand Is Really Sustainable: A Buyer's Checklist

Working out which sustainable fashion brands deserve your money is harder than it should be, because almost every label now uses the same words. This buyer's checklist will not give you another list of brands to trust. It gives you the questions to ask of any brand, including ours, so you can judge the evidence for yourself: who makes the clothes, what they are made of, which certifications mean what, how much gets produced, and which phrases are a warning sign.

Start with transparency: who makes it, and where?

The first test is the simplest. Can you find out, from the brand's own website, where its clothes are made and by whom? A brand that knows its supply chain usually says so, plainly: the country, the region, sometimes the workshop. A brand that does not know, or would rather you did not ask, tends to talk about values instead of places.

Three questions to put to any label, in this order:

1. Which country, and ideally which workshop or factory, makes the garment?
2. Does the brand make clothes itself, or buy finished stock from someone else?
3. Will it answer a direct question by email, with a specific reply?

None of this proves good practice on its own. But a brand that cannot answer these questions cannot really make claims about what happens further down its supply chain either.

Read the fibre content, not the marketing

The care label and the product page should tell you exactly what a garment is made of, in percentages. That is far more useful than a headline word. "Made with organic cotton" might describe a garment that is mostly organic cotton, or one with a small share of it; the percentage tells you which. The same goes for "recycled": ask how much.

Natural fibres such as linen, cotton and silk are a sensible choice for warm-weather clothes, and they can usually be repaired and altered well. That said, a fibre alone does not make a garment sustainable. How it was grown, dyed and finished, and how long you wear it, matter at least as much. If you want to go deeper on fabric choice for loose shapes, our guide to choosing a kaftan fabric covers the trade-offs.

What do the main certifications actually mean?

Certifications are useful precisely because they are narrow. Each one answers a specific question, and none of them answers every question. Confusing them is one of the easiest ways to be misled.

GOTS. The Global Organic Textile Standard describes itself as "a globally recognised certification for textiles made with organic fibres". It covers processing as well as fibre, and its own site says that for a product to be labelled GOTS-certified, every company involved in making it must be certified by an approved independent body. It is about organic textiles, so it does not apply to everything.

OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100. According to OEKO-TEX, this is "a label for textiles tested for harmful substances". That is a product-safety claim. It does not tell you a fibre was grown organically or that workers were paid fairly.

B Corp. A Certified B Corporation is a company certified by the non-profit B Lab for its governance and its environmental and social impact. It describes the business as a whole, not a single garment.

Fair Trade and similar labels. These focus on the people who grow or make things. As with every label above, check which organisation issued it and what exactly it covers, and look the brand up on the certifier's own database rather than relying on a logo in a product photo.

The honest corollary: many small makers hold no certifications at all, because certification costs money and paperwork. No certificate is not proof of bad practice. It simply means you should lean harder on the other questions in this checklist. First Resort, for the record, does not claim any of these certifications.

Look at how much the brand makes

A part of fashion's waste that rarely appears on a label is overproduction: clothes made in large quantities and a guessed spread of sizes months before anyone knows what will sell. Whatever does not sell is marked down, then marked down again. A brand's production model tells you a lot about how much of that waste it creates.

Signs of a lower-waste model include small batches, limited runs that are not endlessly restocked, and made-to-order production, where a piece is cut only after someone has bought it. This is how First Resort works: every piece is made to order, in the size the customer chose. Ramola Bachchan explains the reasoning in her essay The most sustainable garment is the one made for you. Made to order is not a complete answer, and we would not present it as one. It addresses unsold stock, not every other question on this list.

“The most sustainable piece in your wardrobe is the one you reach for again and again, so buy the shape you love rather than the one that is trending this month,” says fashion designer Ramola Bachchan, who founded First Resort in 2018.

Repairs, care and cost per wear

A brand serious about sustainability should help you keep its clothes going. Look for clear care instructions, spare buttons, seams with enough allowance to be let out, and an alteration or repair route, whether that is a service the brand offers or simple construction a local tailor can work with.

Cost per wear is a useful way to think about price: divide what you paid by the number of times you expect to wear the piece. A well-made caftan or kaftan that you wear every summer for years can work out cheaper per wear than a bargain you wear twice. Caring for it properly matters too; our guide to reading a care label explains every symbol.

Greenwashing red flags, and what regulators say

You do not have to rely on instinct here. Consumer regulators have published guidance on environmental claims, and it doubles as a shopper's guide to what a trustworthy claim looks like.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority's Green Claims Code warns that "Vague and/or general statements of environmental benefit are more likely to be misleading". It names terms like "green", "sustainable" and "eco-friendly", especially used without explanation, as likely to suggest a positive environmental impact that may not exist. It also expects the evidence behind a claim to be easy to reach, for example in an online claim through a single click.

In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission's Green Guides say that unqualified general environmental benefit claims "are difficult to interpret and likely convey a wide range of meanings", and that marketers should not make them. In the European Union, Directive (EU) 2024/825 on empowering consumers for the green transition strengthens consumer protection rules against greenwashing; the European Commission says it has applied since 27 September 2026.

Put together, the red flags to watch for are:

• Broad words such as eco, green, conscious or sustainable with no explanation of what they mean.
• A "sustainable" collection that is a small part of an otherwise unchanged range.
• Logos or badges you cannot find on any certifier's website.
• Claims about a whole brand that rest on one fibre in one product.
• No way to reach the evidence, or answers that never get specific.

Use the same checklist on us. Ask where a piece is made, what it is made of and how it will be made for you, and expect a straight answer. You can start with our linen pieces or browse new arrivals.

Frequently asked questions

How can you tell if a clothing brand is actually sustainable?

Look for specifics you can check: where and by whom the clothes are made, exact fibre content, named certifications you can look up, and how much the brand produces. A brand that only offers words like eco or conscious, with nothing behind them, has not shown you anything.

Is OEKO-TEX the same as organic?

No. OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 means a textile has been tested for harmful substances. It says nothing about whether the fibre was grown organically, which is what a standard such as GOTS covers.

What does B Corp mean on a fashion label?

B Corp is a certification of the whole company, awarded by the non-profit B Lab, covering its governance and its social and environmental impact. It is not a test of any single garment, so read it alongside the details of the piece you are buying.

Is made-to-order clothing more sustainable?

It removes one specific kind of waste: clothes produced in guessed quantities that never sell. It does not by itself tell you anything about fibre, dyes or working conditions, so it is one good sign rather than the whole answer.

What are common greenwashing words in fashion?

Green, eco, eco-friendly, conscious, sustainable and environmentally friendly are the usual ones when they appear with no explanation. The UK regulator's guidance names several of these as broad terms that are likely to mislead if used without explanation.

Shop the Collection

Also shop: Caftans  ·  Linen  ·  Cotton  ·  Silk  ·  New Arrivals  ·  Sustainable

Also read: The Most Sustainable Garment Is the One Made for You  ·  How to Read a Care Label  ·  How to Choose the Right Kaftan Fabric