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Environmental information systems
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In February 2026, on average 9% of the most popular clothing items sold online on Zalando in five different European countries had product standards supported by third-party certification.
The largest share of product standards use consists of certified organic fibres, followed by organic in‑transition fibres and wood‑based fibres such as viscose, modal, and lyocell. Materials linked to forest‑based and regenerative sourcing are present but still marginal.
An analysis of the most popular clothing items sold online in February 2026 shows that product standards, other than recycled content which is present in approximately 13% of top‑selling products (see CML metric on recycled content), remain a niche. Nevertheless, their combined share of nearly 9% indicates a gradual diversification of material strategies beyond conventional fibres.
Organic materials clearly dominate the category of standards. The relatively high average material shares (often close to or above 80%) suggest that when third-party certified materials are used, they are typically used as primary fibre inputs rather than marginal blends.
Wood‑based fibres (such as viscose, modal, and lyocell) represent the third most common group. Their presence reflects substitution away from fossil‑based synthetics and conventional cotton, although the environmental performance of these fibres depends strongly on sourcing and forest‑management practices.
Forest‑based and regeneratively grown materials are still rare in top‑selling products, indicating that these approaches remain at an early stage of market uptake, despite growing policy and industry attention.
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