FABRICS AND LEATHER
While the suppliers may vary, from small and local, to internationally renowned, one thing remains true: all of our fabrics are third-party certified to be non-toxic at the highest standard through the Oeko-Tex® 100 Standard or Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certifications.
For leather upholstery fabrics, we exclusively work with kind, full-life leather from our German supplier EcoPell. Unlike conventional leather, unsealed EcoPell leather is vegetable-tanned, to be free of heavy metals, safe, and environmentally friendly. Their outstanding quality has been confirmed through certifications and seals of approval by German natural textile association IVN, Germany’s fourth-largest farming Biokreis association, and ECARF Institute of the European Center for Allergy Research Foundation.
In our Couture Collection, all our pieces are also under upholstered with a GOTS organic-certified cotton twill fabric which will preserve the integrity and durability of your piece.
To learn more, read our blog post on fabrics.
Certified non-toxic, every time
Since 1992, STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® has been a globally standardized, independent mark of quality for raw, semi-finished and finished textile products from all stages of production and for all accessory materials used in the process.
This global certification system assures manufacturers, suppliers, brands, retailers, and consumers around the world that certified products meet the strict limit values for harmful substances of STANDARD 100 and that these substances are not present in critical concentrations. OEKO-TEX® originally tested for about 100 chemicals like pesticides, carcinogenic colorants and heavy metals but today STANDARD 100 covers a wide array of several hundred harmful substances.
GOTS-certified fabrics are guaranteed not only to be non-toxic, but to have been made from at least 70% organic fibers, with limited environmental impacts during production, and fair treatment to all workers.
The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) is recognized as the world's leading processing standard for textiles (clothing, home textiles, and personal care products) made from certified organically produced raw materials. It includes strict environmental and social criteria for operations along the entire textile supply chain.
Textile processing results in the often inadequately treated discharge of toxic chemicals into the air and water, as well as hazardous workplace situations. GOTS prohibits the use of the kinds of chemicals commonly used in textile processing that can cause cancer, birth defects and other serious illnesses. Chemicals, like persistent hormone-disrupting substances, also destroy ecosystems and biodiversity on an international scale. GOTS requires that all dyes and auxiliaries assessed to its strict criteria and approved prior to their usage.
The ECARF Seal of Quality has been awarded to allergy-friendly products and services since 2006. The certified products and services are suitable for people with allergies such as hay fever, dust mite allergies, contact allergies.
The Seal was developed by the ECARF Foundation in close collaboration with experts from various fields. The Seal is awarded as a voluntary service provided by the ECARF Foundation and is granted upon fulfilment of specific quality requirements. An independent scientific advisory board appointed by the Foundation establishes the necessary evaluation criteria from a scientific perspective.
The Biokreis is a non-governmental organization. The approximate 1000 farmers and 80 processing companies are certified with the Biokreis Seal which stands for proven ecological quality. Its goals are to help farmers to grow organically and promote organic agriculture, bring farmers and manufacturers together - regionally and on a fair basis and ensure that the raw hides of the animals have come from ecological husbandry.
IVN has been involved in developing a standard for sustainable leather since 2001. The quality seal “NATURLEDER IVN ZERTIFIZIERT” certifies a high level of ecology and quality for the labeled product.
The following criteria are tested : environmental toxicity, health threatening and poisonous substances for humans during the production and when using the product (human toxicity), degradability of employed substances, presence of harmful groups of substances, protection of natural resources (amounts of energy and water).
Certain groups of substances that are considered harmful like chemical preservatives and biocides, heavy metals like chrome and lead are not allowed to be used.