In an increasingly competitive and complex global market, textile and apparel brands face simultaneous pressures from geopolitical instability, evolving supply chain legislation and consumer demand for greater sustainability and transparency. To navigate this challenging landscape, companies need industry partners whose expertise extends far beyond basic compliance testing.
Here, Ben Mead, managing director of Hohenstein Institute America, sheds light on Hohenstein’s core value proposition, which is built on decades of experience and its founding role in the OEKO-TEX® system. Mead also explains why an integrated approach is key to helping clients de-risk supply chains, move toward proactive responsible business strategies and drive material innovation for a circular future.
HGI: The testing, inspection and certification market is increasingly competitive. What is Hohenstein’s core value proposition that extends beyond basic compliance testing, and how does your founding role in the OEKO-TEX® system specifically differentiate you in delivering trust and transparency to brands and consumers?
Ben Mead: Hohenstein’s value comes from long experience working across textile supply chains and from applied research on how products behave in real use. Our work examines the interaction between the textile, the wearer and the environment, which helps identify where risks are most likely to occur, what testing is actually needed, and where opportunities exist for performance or sustainability improvements. This allows our partners to avoid unnecessary effort while still addressing the areas that matter most for safety, performance and sustainability.
Because we were one of the founding members of the OEKO-TEX® Association, we have decades of familiarity with the structure and evolution of its standards. We contribute technical expertise within a collective, multi-institute framework that maintains clear, science-based criteria. That independence is important for brands that need reliable certification and transparent communication to consumers.
Hohenstein remains family-owned, and that influences how we work. The focus is on long-term relationships: understanding a client’s product, supply chain and pressure points. That continuity helps us recognize shortcuts to product risks and supply-chain vulnerabilities that may not be obvious from documentation alone. It also shapes our emphasis on careful methods, defined procedures and consistent interpretation of results.
Deep technical experience, applied research, high standards and a client-centered approach inform how we support companies beyond basic compliance checks. We help determine the most efficient approach, interpret results and identify practical solutions.
HGI: In an era of increasing geopolitical and environmental instability, supply chain disruption and sourcing risk remain significant challenges. How does Hohenstein’s expertise in inspections, audits,and traceability (such as with OEKO-TEX® MADE IN GREEN) directly help clients de-risk their complex, global supply chains and maintain consistent quality and production standards?
BM: During periods of geopolitical or supply-chain instability, many companies reconsider suppliers or shift sourcing and production locations. Using compliance and sustainability criteria during onboarding helps them do this without lowering expectations or rebuilding evaluation processes from scratch.
Hohenstein’s inspections, audits and traceability tools provide a consistent, trusted baseline for evaluating suppliers. OEKO-TEX® certifications and labels, including STeP and MADE IN GREEN, use a single set of recognized criteria that many brands accept, giving visibility into production sites and processes and strengthening risk assessment across multiple tiers. This also helps reduce audit fatigue for suppliers and supports clearer communication as sourcing shifts to new regions.
Hohenstein’s inspections, audits and traceability tools provide a consistent, trusted baseline for evaluating suppliers. OEKO-TEX® certifications and labels, including STeP and MADE IN GREEN, use a single set of recognized criteria that many brands accept, strengthening risk assessment across multiple tiers. This also helps reduce audit fatigue for suppliers and supports clearer communication as sourcing shifts to new regions.
Applying these tools at onboarding and throughout the supplier relationship helps companies identify risks earlier, monitor how well requirements are being met over time and maintain quality expectations as their supply chains evolve.
HGI: Regulatory policies, like the EU’s Digital Product Passport and increasing mandatory supply chain due diligence legislation, are rapidly creating new legal obligations for companies. How is Hohenstein helping clients transition from reactive compliance to proactive responsible business strategies?
BM: Due-diligence requirements are pushing companies to document how they identify and manage human-rights and environmental risks across their supply chains. OEKO-TEX® RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS gives them a structured framework for this work. It helps companies demonstrate that the processes they expect from suppliers, such as risk assessment, preventive actions and follow-up, are also being carried out internally. Because the framework is already established, it provides a practical starting point rather than requiring each company to design its own approach.
The system is built to support ongoing improvement, which is important as legislation evolves. It gives companies a way to organize responsibilities, document risk management and improve over time, even when teams or suppliers change.
For product-level transparency, Digital Product Passport requirements will demand consistent data on materials, processes and supply-chain steps. OEKO-TEX® MADE IN GREEN and OEKO-TEX® ORGANIC already capture verified information on facilities, inputs and supply chains. Using a unified structure for this data reduces the complexity of gathering information separately for each regulation or customer request.
Together, these systems help companies move from one-off compliance tasks to a more durable governance approach, making it easier to meet current expectations and prepare for future ones.
HGI: Consumer and regulatory pressures demand continuous material innovation, greener chemistry and circularity. Beyond standard chemical testing, how is Hohenstein leveraging its research and development capabilities to help brands not only meet today’s environmental standards but also drive future product design and textile life cycle improvement?
BM: We’re seeing incentives such as eco modulation beginning to influence how companies design for longevity, reuse and end-of-life outcomes. That requires understanding not only how a product performs, but for how long, and what happens at the end of its useful life. Hohenstein’s applied research supports this by examining durability, care behavior, recyclability, microfiber release and end-of-life impacts such as biodegradability.
For microplastics, we go deeper than traditional mass-loss measurements by developing methods that quantify the number and type of fibers released, as well as an accessible screening method created with Under Armour for use during material development. We also evaluate the environmental behavior of released fibers, how much they degrade and whether they cause ecotoxic effects. This helps companies understand not just the volume of microfibers generated, but how those fibers interact with ecosystems as they break down.
These insights inform material selection, finishing choices and product construction. They help companies evaluate whether a product will perform as intended throughout its life cycle and what environmental outcomes may follow. We support more informed decisions and help build trust.
HGI: Hohenstein offers a diverse range of services, from chemical management and wastewater analysis to digital fit testing and product functionality. How do you ensure these diverse expertise areas are integrated to provide a truly holistic solution for clients, and what role does digitalization play in enhancing the efficiency, speed and reliability of your service delivery?
BM: This is the challenge. Every customer’s operations, systems and people are different. The tools might be the same, but when and how they are used makes a significant difference. You can’t simply buy a solution and expect it to run on its own. Most organizations need support at some point, especially because continuity can be a challenge. If a key person leaves or responsibilities shift, having a partner who has been part of the process helps maintain stability.
Hohenstein works with this reality in mind. We adapt how our services are applied based on each client’s specific context, rather than relying on one-size-fits-all approaches. Our offerings — chemical testing, certifications and labels, backing performance claims, supply-chain traceability, performance testing and digital fit tools — are designed to function as complementary components, but the real value comes from considering the client’s existing workflows, supply chains, target markets, claims they want to make, global regulations and risk tolerance.
Digital tools such as 3D/4D scanning, digital materials and customized avatars help streamline development. OEKO-TEX® tools provide documentation and traceability. But because organizations differ in structure and people, we approach partnerships with ongoing collaboration and the latest science, ensuring that testing, data and decisions remain connected as their operations evolve.
