UK Clothing Label Requirements: What Your Brand Must Put on Its Garments
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In Great Britain, the only thing the law specifically requires on a clothing label is the fibre composition: what the garment is made of, using approved fibre names and percentages, in English, on a label that is durable, legible, visible and accessible. Separately, product safety rules expect the brand putting its name on the garment to give a name and address and a product or batch reference, on the item or its packaging. Care instructions, size and country of origin aren't specifically required by law, but any claim you make must be accurate, and in practice you'll want care and size on every piece.
Here's what that means when you're building a label on blank garments, and who is responsible for getting it right.
The legal minimum on a UK clothing label
| Information | Legally required in GB? | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Fibre composition | Yes | Textile Products (Labelling and Fibre Names) Regulations 2012 |
| Producer name and address | Yes, on the item or its packaging | General Product Safety Regulations 2005 |
| Product reference or batch | Yes, on the item or its packaging | General Product Safety Regulations 2005 |
| Care instructions | No specific requirement, but strongly advisable | Industry practice |
| Size | No specific requirement | Commercial necessity |
| Country of origin | Not generally, but must never mislead | Consumer protection law |
This covers England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland follows some EU product rules, including the EU General Product Safety Regulation, so if you sell there, check the government guidance for Northern Ireland.
Fibre composition: the one rule every label must meet
The Textile Products (Labelling and Fibre Names) Regulations 2012 require textile products to carry a fibre content label. Trading Standards' guidance on labelling textiles sets out the essentials:
- Approved fibre names only. Use the names on the official list, such as cotton, polyester, elastane, viscose or wool. Trade names and marketing words don't replace them.
- Percentages for blends. A garment made of more than one fibre lists each with its percentage, for example "cotton 80%, polyester 20%".
- "100%" and "pure" only for single-fibre garments. A tee in 100% cotton jersey can say so; a blend can't round up.
- Each component if they differ. A hoodie with a body in one fabric and a lining in another needs both declared.
- Durable, legible, visible, accessible, in English. A sewn-in label or a well-applied printed label inside the garment does this; a swing tag alone won't last.
- Animal-origin parts. If the garment includes non-textile parts of animal origin, such as a leather patch, the label must say "contains non-textile parts of animal origin".
Your website counts too
If a customer can order straight from your product page, the fibre content must appear in that listing as well. That applies to your Shopify store, marketplace listings and anything else a customer can buy from. It's the most commonly missed part of the rule for online brands: put the composition in the product description, not just on the garment. Our guide to showing fibre content in your product descriptions covers how to write it into a listing alongside fit and care.
It has to be accurate
A label that says "100% cotton" on a blend is a misdescription. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires goods to match their description, and misleading descriptions are also covered by consumer protection law. Take the composition from your supplier's specification, then check it against the label already in the blank.
Who is responsible when you relabel a blank?
This is where brands built on blanks need to pay attention. Under the General Product Safety Regulations 2005, a "producer" includes the manufacturer and also any person presenting themselves as the manufacturer by affixing their name, trade mark or other distinctive mark to the product.
Put simply: once your brand name goes on the neck, you're presenting yourself as the maker, and the product safety duties sit with you as well. Trading Standards guidance says producers must show, on the product or its packaging:
- the producer's name and address
- the product reference or, where applicable, the batch it belongs to
It doesn't all have to sit on the neck label. A brand name on the neck, with your business name, address and a style or batch code on an inner side-seam label, swing tag or mailer, is a common and tidy way to do it. Keep a record of which blank, weight and colour each style reference relates to, so you can trace any batch back to its source.
What's optional, and what you should include anyway
Care instructions
There's no specific legal requirement for care labels in the UK, but leaving them off is a false economy. Customers expect them, stockists may ask for them, and clear instructions reduce the chance of a heavyweight tee being washed hot, tumble dried and sent back. Write care instructions that suit the garment and any decoration on it: a DTF print or embroidery may need gentler care than the blank on its own.
If you use the familiar wash-tub and triangle symbols, note that the GINETEX care symbols are trademarked. In the UK, UKFT issues licences to use them. Written care instructions in plain English need no licence.
Size
Not a legal requirement, but you'll have returns chaos without it. If you're working with an oversized or boxy cut, your size label is also where a "size down for a regular fit" note can live on a swing tag.
Country of origin
UK law doesn't generally require a "Made in" label on clothing. What it does prohibit is misleading consumers. Printing your designs in Britain doesn't make the garment British-made, so don't label it "Made in the UK" unless that's true. If you mention origin at all, keep it factual: "Printed in the UK" describes the work you did, not where the fabric was knitted.
A practical label set for a brand built on blanks
Most small brands end up with a set like this:
- Neck: brand name or logo, printed or woven. See our guide to adding your own neck labels for the methods.
- Size: a separate size label or pip, so your branded label isn't tied to a size breakdown.
- Composition and care: fibre content plus care instructions, sewn in or printed inside.
- Traceability: business name, address and style or batch code, inside the garment or on the swing tag and packaging.
Starting with an unbranded blank makes this far simpler. Our 320 GSM ultra heavy tee and 325 GSM heavy long sleeve carry a size label and a care/wash label only, with no third-party brand to unpick. Both are 100% cotton jersey, so the composition line is as simple as it gets. Before you print your own labels, check exactly what the existing labels say and make sure your label set repeats or replaces every required detail.
Labels and garment dyeing
If you're garment dyeing blanks to your own Pantone shade, decide when your labels go in. Anything sewn or printed before dyeing goes through the dye bath with the garment and can change colour. If you want a white label to stay white, add it after dyeing. Dyeing doesn't change the fibre content of a 100% cotton garment, so your composition line stays the same, but your care instructions should reflect the dyed product. Our 380 GSM relaxed fit hoodie in Olive Drab is an example of a garment-dyed 100% cotton blank.
Check it on a sample first
Labels are part of the product, so test them like the rest of it. Order one garment, apply your labels, then wash it several times and check that the print hasn't faded and the stitching hasn't puckered the collar. Our sampling checklist for blank t-shirts covers wash tests in detail. There's no minimum order on our blanks, so a single test piece is easy.
If you're eventually moving to fully custom garments, you'll specify labels and trims from scratch at the factory stage. That's a different decision, covered in cut and sew vs blanks.
FAQ
Is it a legal requirement to have a label in clothing in the UK?
Yes. Textile products sold in Great Britain must carry a fibre composition label using approved fibre names, in English, that is durable, legible, visible and accessible. Product safety rules also expect the producer's name, address and a product or batch reference on the item or its packaging.
Are care labels a legal requirement in the UK?
No specific law requires them, but they're standard practice and expected by customers and retailers. If you use GINETEX care symbols, you need a licence, which UKFT issues in the UK. Written instructions don't need one.
Do I need "Made in" on my clothing labels?
Not generally. But any origin claim you make must be true. Printing or embroidering a garment in the UK doesn't make it "Made in the UK".
Can I remove the supplier's label from a blank?
You can replace it, but don't remove a label carrying required information unless your own label carries the same details. An unbranded blank with size and care labels only avoids the problem.
Does my Shopify product page need to show fibre content?
Yes, if customers can order from it. Trading Standards guidance says the fibre content must appear in any listing or advert that a product can be ordered from.
Who is responsible for the label on a relabelled blank?
The fibre labelling duty sits with the manufacturer or UK importer, but once you put your own brand on a garment you're treated as a producer under product safety rules. Check that your label set is complete and accurate before you sell. This is general guidance, not legal advice; your local Trading Standards service can advise on your products.
Start with blanks that leave room for your label
Getting labels right is easier when the garment arrives clean. Browse our heavyweight wholesale blanks, from 230 GSM boxy crops to 500 GSM hoodies; our 265–320 GSM tees and 325 GSM long sleeves arrive unbranded, with size and care labels only. We're a UK supplier established in 1972, with zero MOQ, next-working-day dispatch on in-stock blanks from our UK warehouse, and DTG, DTF, screen printing, embroidery and garment dyeing when you're ready to scale.