Hi guys,
I recently started a dedicated, sustainable kidswear brand (minimalist style, no loud graphics, lounge and athleisure and some super classic basic pieces) because I couldn't find similar brands that took kidswear seriously the way adult "clean' brands do — everything for kids seemed to default to baggy oversized fit with graphics and cheap polyester, scratchy tags.
It is actually been so incredibly difficult to make this happen, and here are the reasons why and what I've learn:
1. GOTS Organic Cotton - to be GOTS verified, you have to make sure your entire chain of custody gets registered with GOTS, this means:
The batch of fabrics you are using need a TC (Transaction Certificate) and all the fabric-related portion of the chain (the farm, the mill and the dye house) have SC (Scope Certificate). It is not good enough the supplier you bought your fabrics from have the SC, you still need them to issue you TC for the very particular batch of fabrics you bought. I made this mistake the very first time I purchased GOTS organic cotton, these mills they still market everything as GOTS organic cotton, but in reality it is not without the TC, and to issue the TC, the cost is significantly higher than their marketed "GOTS organic cotton".
And then your garment manufacturers will also need to obtain the SC and issue TC for every single production run you order.
Technically, DTC brand can also obtain SC if you want your own GOTS id on the product, but you are generally exempt from it, and you would just put your manufacturer's id on it instead.
2. OEKO-TEX - slightly easier to obtain, the most important part is that your fabrics, trims and threads are OEKO-TEX certified so then since your all raw materials are already tested, your end products don't need to get tested again.
But then here comes my biggest hurdle when I was sourcing for my organic athleisure line. It was almost IMPOSSIBLE to find fabrics that are mainly organic fiber yet provides the stretchability and durability traditional activewear fabrics provide. I literally broke my legs visiting suppliers after suppliers. Well, you can always custom-make the fabric with the mill, but it has a super high MOQ of 1 ton (well, probably not that high for an established adult's brand, but definitely for a new kidswear brand). Anyway, the fabric I was looking for is extremely niche, and almost no where to be found in the existing fabric market, but fortunately I found one mill that stocked something super closed to what I wanted, so I went with it and made some samples, they turned out AMAZIG! But the problem is they are a very small mill, and honestly they have a pretty bad altitude— they are not currently OEKO-TEX certified, and it doesn't seem like they are willing to get certified for us :( So if you have read my post up to here, could you please comment your thoughts on this— is it ok to focus on the fabric content more than the OEKO-TEX certificates? Or you don't think I should even use it if it is not OEKO-TEX certified?
To sum it up: GOTS Organic Cotton is easy to find in the market, but there are so many little bits and pieces that you need to know to understand if you can actually call your end products GOTS verified, it is very easy to get tricked by ambiguous advertising. OEKO-TEX is easier to maintain but the super niche fabrics you are looking for probably comes from small mills that don't have the certificates and won't get it.
Also noticing that majority of parents don't seem to care about their kids' clothes, they often opt for cheaper, affordable options like Target, Old Navy as they think kids will just grow out of it, but that's so crazy to me. I don't even shop at Target for clothes myself, and I definitely want the best for my little ones. Especially with my own history with eczema, my skins flare up every time sweats get trapped in the synthetic gym clothes I wear, I don't even want to wear those non-breathable synthetic activewear, let along putting them on my kids.
Anyway, not pitching anything here, just thought I'd share the realistic BTS of trying to build a sustainable brand and the things I have to balance as a solo founder with no big funds backing. Happy to answer anything about sourcing, certifications!
Submitted July 24, 2026 at 01:18AM by Slow_Combination_580 https://ift.tt/MzPR0gV
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