Built my brand with GOTS, Fair Trade & SUPIMA cotton—here’s what worked (and what didn’t)

Hey folks,

After a long year of sourcing and building, I finally launched my ethical clothing brand—and wanted to share a bit of the experience that this community helped shape. From GOTS-certified organic cotton to Fair Trade and WRAP-certified factories, it’s been a huge learning curve with some compromises along the way.

Here’s a snapshot of what worked—and where I had to make tough calls:

Sourcing fully traceable materials is harder than expected, especially when trying to avoid greenwashing and verify certifications.

Most of our products are 100% natural fiber—like SUPIMA cotton tees and organic heavyweight cotton pieces.

But for a few items (like hoodies and sweatpants), the fabric includes around 20% recycled polyester. It was the only way to get the structure and durability we needed while working with mills that still met Fair Trade and GOTS certification where possible.

We use plastic-free packaging—recycled kraft paper, compostable mailers, and zero polybags. This actually took more work than product development.

No sweatshops, and we plant one tree for every product sold to give back in a small but tangible way.

This community has been incredibly valuable—reading past posts helped me steer clear of a lot of bad decisions early on. I’m not here to pitch anything—just thought it might help someone going down a similar road.

Open book if anyone’s curious about any part of the process. – Sumeet | Robenti 🌱

Submitted June 14, 2025 at 12:12PM by 4lordvoldemort https://ift.tt/GiNOlY0