Faye Verified
Independent verification of everything a brand says.
Faye Verified is a planned scheme that checks a whole brand. That means every claim it makes, every certificate and mark it shows, and the factories and processes behind its products. The checking and the decision will rest with an independent, accredited certification body, not with us. A brand can fail.
In development. Not yet open to applications.
Why Faye Verified exists
Many brands now make sustainability claims: organic, natural, eco, ethically made, responsibly sourced. Some are fully backed by evidence; many are not. Greenwashing has become so common that regulators in the UK and the EU are cracking down, and shoppers have learned to doubt what brands say about themselves.
Brands that have genuinely done the work deserve a way to show it. Faye Verified is being built to check everything a brand says, independently, and show with evidence that it is true.
What the law now says
In the EU, since 27 September 2026, under Directive (EU) 2024/825
- Sustainability labels and badges must rest on a certification scheme, with compliance checked by an independent third party separate from both the scheme owner and the brand.
- Generic claims such as 'environmentally friendly' or 'green' are banned unless the brand can show recognised excellent environmental performance.
- The rules apply to any brand selling to EU shoppers, including UK brands.
In the UK
- Since 6 April 2025, the CMA can fine businesses directly for misleading claims, up to 10% of global turnover.
- The CMA's January 2026 guidance expects businesses to take reasonable steps to check claims they repeat from suppliers.
- Showing a trust mark without proper authorisation is banned outright.
- In December 2025 the ASA ruled against unqualified 'sustainable' claims by Nike, Lacoste and Superdry.
Faye Verified is being designed from the start to meet the EU definition of a certification scheme, beginning in the UK.
What would be checked
The whole brand, never a single product.
Every claim.
Website pages, product names and descriptions, packaging. A product name is a claim.
Every certificate and mark.
GOTS, OEKO-TEX, COSMOS, B Corp, Leaping Bunny, Vegan Society, Fair Wear and others, confirmed with the body that issued them, and checked against the exact products they appear on, such as the GOTS product type and blend.
Factories and processes.
Who makes the products, where and how, checked against documents.
People and planet.
How the making of the products affects workers and the environment: working conditions, wages, chemicals, water and waste, backed by audits and certificates such as SA8000.
Chemicals and worker protection.
Evidence on the chemicals used in production, and how factory workers are protected from them.
Public allegations.
Unresolved issues against a brand or its factories count against it. Issues properly put right, with evidence, are noted but not held against it.
Independent lab tests.
Products may be bought anonymously and tested by an accredited laboratory, for example for fibre content or restricted chemicals, where the certification body decides it is needed.
What would not pass
- A product called natural that contains a synthetically made ingredient.
- '100% natural' or '100% organic' when any part is not.
- A certificate, licence or test that has lapsed, or does not cover the product it is shown on.
- A mark the issuing body cannot confirm.
- A claim with no evidence, or evidence that says something different.
- A percentage, such as '95% natural origin', without the calculation behind it.
- Vague terms such as 'sustainable' or 'eco' that are not explained and evidenced.
- A product described as organic when its fibre is not certified organic, or the certificate does not cover that product.
- Saying the brand is certified when only its factory or supplier holds the certificate.
- A certification logo shown without a valid licence behind it for that product, or used outside the issuing body's rules.
- A certificate held by a different company, with no documented link to the brand's products.
- Claims about factories, working conditions or chemicals with no evidence behind them.
A brand passes only when every claim passes.
The technology behind it
Faye Verified is backed by software we have spent the last year building for Ovine. It already reads product pages word for word, finds each product's full composition, and checks GOTS certificates against the GOTS register, down to whether a certificate covers that exact product type and blend. Every page read and every check is dated and recorded, so each result can be traced to its source.
Alongside the software, we research each brand's factory chain in depth and source the evidence behind every claim: certificates, audits and documents, checked with the bodies that issue them.
We are extending the software to read every page of a brand's website and record every claim. For brands, that means most of the work is done for them. For the certification body, it means starting from a complete, traceable evidence file.
How it would work
- 1
Apply
A brand applies and confirms it speaks for the brand and controls its website.
- 2
Ovine's checks
Our software reads the brand's site and checks its certificates. We then carry out our own checks and ask the brand for the specific documents needed to evidence each claim to the standard the law expects.
- 3
Independent checks
An accredited certification body carries out its own checks: it reviews the evidence, confirms certificates with their issuers, asks the brand for anything more, and may audit or test.
- 4
The decision
The certification body decides pass or fail. Not Ovine.
- 5
The badge
A brand that passes will be able to show the Faye Verified badge on its website, linked to a page here setting out what was checked and when.
- 6
Putting things right
A brand that doesn't pass is told privately, with time to fix things and a re-check.
- 7
Kept true
Certificates are re-checked when they fall due and pages are re-read regularly. If something stops being true, the badge comes down.
Our independence promise
- The fee never buys a result, and is the same whether a brand passes or fails.
- Only the independent certification body decides pass or fail.
- Ovine and the certification body are separate companies.
- A fail is private.
Separate from the Ovine app
Faye Verified has nothing to do with the Ovine app's catalogue or letters. The app is paid for by members, and no brand can buy a grade or a place in it. Products reach the catalogue only by meeting Faye's rules, and that costs a brand nothing. Faye's letters on a brand's products are set by the same rules whether the brand is verified or not.
Where it stands
Faye Verified is in development. No certification body has agreed to take part yet, and no price has been set. We are speaking with brands now to shape it.
Register your interest
Leave a work email and we'll keep you updated as Faye Verified develops.
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