Textile and leather products - Regulatory compliance, testing, certification and quality benchmark

Solutions at every stage of the supply chain for the apparel & fashion, footwear, textile and related industries

In this global era of circular economy, environmental and social consciousness, consumers expect the quality, safety, regulatory compliance and sustainability of the purchased products and the transparency of the processes they go through, to be guaranteed.

We offer a comprehensive and evolving set of services to help brand owners, retailers, distributors, importers, manufacturers and providers of raw materials to meet the stringent regulations and high expectations of Authorities and consumers respectively, in the destination markets.

Key Service Portfolio:

• Testing Services
• Regulatory & Compliance
• Sustainability Solutions
• PPE Certification
• Inspection and Audits
• Tailored Solutions
• Training

Industries and product ranges served

• Apparel & fashion
  • Adult & children apparel, sportswear, sleepwear, uniforms  and workwear
  • Baby, nursery and maternity clothing 
  • Fashion accessories, gloves, scarves, jewellery 
  • Costumes and disguises 
• Leather
  • Leather 
  • Leather products, bags, belts, wallets...
• Footwear
  • Men, women, children footwear
  • Sports shoes, snickers, slippers
  • Boots, shoes, sandals 
• Home textiles
  • Upholstery, mattresses, blankets, cushions, pillows 
  • Bed linen, sheets, covers...
  • Curtains, stores... 
  • Bathroom linen, towels 
  • Home and kitchen, tablecloths, napkins, tea towels, mittens... 
  • Carpets, rugs, etc. 
• Technical textiles
  • Sport-tech (waterproof, antiperspirant, etc.) 
  • Aggrotech (including Food Contact Material testing)
  • Cosmetic-textiles (e.g. stocks with slimming, vasodilator or other effects) 
• Materials & Components
  • Raw materials
  • Fabrics and yarns 
  • Chemicals and finishing products 
  • Zippers, buttons, cords
• Personal protective equipment (PPE)
  • Protective clothing, safety shoes, gloves ...
    Read more in our PPE website>>
    
    
    
    

Testing Services

Mechanical Testing

Meant to benchmark the physical and mechanical properties of your products and ensure they are fit for purpose. These include, among other, piling, shrinkage, colourfastness of textiles and garments, or slip and flexing resistance of shoes and components. 

Safety assessment and testing

Safety regulations are the most stringent. Our service covers both, local and international regulations such as those in the European Union (General Product Safety Directive, REACH), the U.S. (Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act – CPSIA, California’s Proposition 65), Canada Consumer Product Safety Act (CCPSA), China’s GB standards and others.

Chemical compliance

We offer the full range of chemical testing and analysis from raw materials to finished product against RSL and MRSL regulatory requirements, industry requirements such as ZDHC and AFIRM, as well as your own specific benchmark.

Chromium VI testing and management

Our (BS) (EN) ISO 17075 accredited labs offer ageing for leather (heat and UV), Chrome VI Audits, Chromium VI Risk Profiler and Testing Calculator, and provide Chrome VI remediation solutions.

Flammability

Aimed to support product compliance for Europe, UK, US, Canada and other markets.

Microbiology

Qualitative and quantitative evaluation of antimicrobial properties of fabrics, garments, footwear and related products and materials and the anti-microbial finishing products applied on these to achive anti-odor or anti-mould properties.

Antiviral claims substantiation

ISO 18184:2019 testing to assess and eventually substantiate the antiviral effectiveness of textile products, fabrics and materials (woven, knitted, fabrics, fibres, yarns and braids).

Performance benchmark

Beyond traditional physical, mechanical, chemical or environmental compliance testing, we offer bespoke performance testing protocols to benchmark your specific requirements and product claims such as Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF), breathability or drying rate.

Sustainability solutions

Sustainability has become an on-going issue for textiles and footwear buyers and suppliers in terms of production lead-time, production input and output pollution, development of new materials and technologies, as well as social and community considerations, among other.

Staying true to our innovative spirit, our experts are constantly developing new solutions to meet ever-evolving sustainability challenges and demands, among which, the following:

• Microplastic shedding quantification
• Organic cotton identification - GMO, pesticides and toxic substances
• Vegan verification
• Supply chain mapping
• Environmental and Social audits

Check these, and more sustainability services in our dedicated section>>

Regulatory and Compliance Services

In a globalized world, consumers can easily be made aware of issues related to poor conditions of production for a particular favourite brand and are demanding transparent information as an important element of decision-making when choosing a product.

In response to lobbying from responsible investors and consumers, brand owners, importers, distributors and retailers are constantly being encouraged to put in place solutions to evaluate the compliance of their products to the increasingly stringent local and international regulations and standards.

Our subject matter experts can support your R&D, quality and procurement departments to evaluate and manage your products’ compliance at every stage of the funnel, with a wide array of services such as:

• Global Market Access
• Product certification
• Labelling, marking and artwork check
• Technical Compliance File / Documentary review
• Bespoke product protocol generation
• Regulatory watch and regulatory compliance alerts
• Risk assessment
• Chemical assessment
• Zero Discharge Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) MRSL conformance - Eurofins | Chem-MAP®
• Fault Diagnosis and Corrective Action Plan (CAP)
• Due diligence on in-store product sampling
• Market surveillance and due-diligence bespoke programs, to benchmark competition and control product quality from your stores
• Bespoke and off-the-shelf training and webinars for both, vendors and buyers

Whether you target mass consumer markets, or a high-end niche, our experts can tailor the program for your product to duly pass every set requirement or protocol across all stages of your supply chain.

More details in our Regulatory section >>

Product inspections and factory audits

Product inspection by third-party service providers allows for an objective and accurate view on the conformity and compliance of your purchasing orders in terms of its conformance with production specification such as workmanship and measurement, packing specification, on-site testing and other requirements set out by buyers, while factory audits are meant to provide an unbiased assessment of your suppliers’ facilities in terms of technical capabilities, social and environmental compliance.

For detailed information about these services, check our section Inspections & Audits >>

Personal Protective Equipment testing and certification

We can support manufacturers, importers and sellers to ensure compliance of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) from our laboratories with Notified Body accreditations for European markets.

For more details, visit the Textile, Leather & Footwear website or contact our experts directly >>.