Cotton news and archive

Better Cotton shifts to certification model

Better Cotton has announced its official transition into becoming a certification scheme, contributing to efforts of boosting “impartiality and independence” among its business. Farm-level certification decisions will now be outsourced to independent third parties. Tom Owen, head of certification at the non-profit organisation, dedicated to...

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Aid by Trade Foundation introduces new transparency standard for cotton

The Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF), known for cotton standards like Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) and Cotton made in Africa Organic, announced today the introduction of its new transparency standard in the first quarter of 2025. Only in November last year, the foundation joined the transparency initiative Make the Label Count to ensure that...

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Shein bans cotton from unapproved regions for US

Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein has introduced new rules for sourcing cotton in products destined for the US market, Reuters reports. The company announced that cotton will now only be sourced from approved regions, such as the US, India, Brazil and Australia. Pressure is mounting for Shein to be more transparent about its supply chain,...

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Cotton vs. polyester - why the recent cotton ban rumour managed to create such ripples

The text that probably triggered the rumours of an alleged EU-wide cotton ban by 2030 was a partner article. The article stressed that cotton was still an ‘environmental problem’, with the conclusion suggesting that an EU ban on cotton was in the offing if the fashion industry itself did not take action because European regulations made it so....

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Why an EU-wide cotton ban would not make sense

The New Year is just a few days old and an interesting debate already ensued – a supposed ban on cotton that the EU wants to enforce by 2030. One might indeed think April Fool’s Day had fallen on January 1st this year, because an EU-wide ban on cotton is neither feasible nor advisable. “There is no EU legislation banning cotton, and there are no...

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New report unveils child labour concerns at Indian cotton farms

A new report by Transparentem has brought forth worrying allegations of child labour, abusive working conditions and wage violations at Indian cotton farms linked to 60 global brands. The organisation’s initial investigation began in 2022 and ran until March 2023, with the report further underlining companies’ efforts to remediate the issues as...

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Uniqlo boss says brand does not use Xinjiang cotton

Fast Retailing’s chief executive, Tadashi Yanai, has claimed that the company’s core brand, Uniqlo, does not use cotton sourced from China’s Xinjiang region in its products. Yanai addressed the concern to the BBC, to which he confirmed that the company was not utilising cotton from this district, before stating: “It gets too political if I say...

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Textile Exchange: Fashion still relying on virgin, fossil-based synthetic fibres

Data from non-profit Textile Exchange’s latest Materials Market Report shows that the market share of virgin, fossil-based synthetics continued to increase in 2023, while that of cotton and recycled fibres declined. These findings correspond to those of a survey among 50 major fashion brands by NGO Changing Markets Foundation: The brands...

Fashion

Fashion industry unveils financing scheme for cotton decarbonisation

The fashion industry has launched an ambitious programme to incentivise sustainable cotton production, signalling a shift towards collaborative efforts in tackling supply chain emissions. The Unlock Programme, developed by The Fashion Pact and sustainability consultancy 2050, aims to provide financial incentives for farmers to adopt lower-impact...

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Aid by Trade Foundation publishes results of independent verifications of CmiA standards

The Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF), known for cotton standards such as Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) and Cotton made in Africa Organic, has once again published its annual aggregated report on the verification and implementation of CmiA. This summarises the results of independent verifications of CmiA standards and thus offers the public...

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Aid by Trade Foundation looks back on a successful year 2023

The Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF), known for the cotton standards Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) and Cotton made in Africa Organic, as well as the Good Cashmere Standard and the Regenerative Cotton Standard (RCS), recently published its 2023 annual report. According to the report, the Foundation was once again able to successfully strengthen the...

What exactly does “regenerative” mean in fashion?

The term “regenerative” is popping up more and more often. But what does it actually mean? And what are regenerative agricultural practices and is there such a thing as regenerative fashion? Many different approaches “‘Regenerative’ is not a defined term,” states Sanne van den Dungen. She is co-founder of Raddis Cotton, an organisation that...