Fiber Guide: Cashmere

Guide

Fiber Guide: Cashmere

October 13, 2021

As part of the CFDA’s extensive Sustainability Initiatives Resource Hub launched in January 2019, the CFDA operated an A-Z directory called the Materials Index. The Index was designed as an informational tool, focused on fiber knowledge.

The Materials Index listings migrated in to the CFDA.com Materials Hub and split traditional fibers from new-age innovative fibers/materials.

This series of resource guides are dedicated to ensuring designers have extensive knowledge on traditional fibers.

CASHMERE

Overview

Cashmere is a natural protein fiber that comes from the Cashmere goat (the capra hircus langier). Quality is determined by fiber length, fiber fineness, and color.

Cashmere goats grow two coats: a course outer coat and soft, fine inner coat that acts as extra insulation during winter. Cashmere wool (as defined by the U.S. Wool Products Labeling Act of 1939) comes from the soft inner coat, which is only a small percentage of a goat’s fleece. This inner coat is shed naturally in spring, which is when fleece is harvested. Goats can be completely shorn, but since it is difficult to separate fine and coarse fibers, high quality cashmere is usually harvested by hand using a comb that collects the fine hairs of the inner coat. After the fine inner coat has been removed the outer fleece is usually shorn and used for non-apparel purposes. Yield is low, Encyclopedia Brittanica points out that a single sweater requires the fleece of 4 to 6 goats (which are shorn once a year), while an overcoat uses the fleece of 30 to 40.

Often considered purely a luxury product in the past, the cost of cashmere has been pushed down, mirrored by a sharp increase in demand. Cashmere suppliers have struggled to keep up with increased demand and low prices to the detriment of the environment, fiber quality, and herding communities. Currently, supply simply cannot keep up with demand in a sustainable way. As Common Objective put it, “More goats mean more grazing; which, in turn, leads to degradation of the grasslands. The result is undernourished goats with coarser hairs, causing the supply of high-quality cashmere to shrink. To make up the lost revenue, herders breed bigger herds, setting off the cycle again.”

Efforts are being made to produce cashmere more sustainably by companies like Kering and Naadam, with a long-term vision to ensure future supply. Other companies, like Patagonia and Stella McCartney, are foregoing virgin cashmere and opting for a recycled version instead.

According to the NRDC, around 6,500 tons of pure cashmere are produced globally, from a raw yield of around 15,000 to 20,000 tons (compared to the 1.1 million tons of clean raw sheep’s wool produced globally). The majority of cashmere is produced by nomadic farmers in China and Mongolia, although other producing countries include Tibet, Afghanistan, and Iran. The optimal environment for cashmere is Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, and the finest fiber comes from there. Most cashmere comes from China, where the Nature Conservancy estimates there are over 100 million goats.

Especially in Mongolia, cashmere provides a major source of income for nomadic herdsmen. According to the World Wildlife Foundation, in Mongolia, economic trends of livestock privatization and the collapse of the urban economy have caused people to return to rural lifestyles, contrary to the global trend toward urbanization. As a result, the number of herdsmen in Mongolia is reported to have tripled in the past decade to more than 450,000 while the number of livestock has increased by 30 percent.

Cashmere production is extremely dependent on environmental factors and fiber quality is impacted by things like temperatures and a goat’s diet. For this reason, cashmere production is limited to a few places with the right natural grassland environment. Historically the industry has always been sensitive, years with drought or harsh winters can significantly impact supply and designers need to calculate based on somewhat unpredictable amounts. Even if grazing practices are improved, climate change could significantly harm the cashmere industry, effects of which are already being seen.

The Business of Fashion reported that two years ago, the Chinese government put restrictions on farmers’ acreage, in a bid to reduce the stripping of the pastureland. However, Outer Mongolia and other producing regions like Afghanistan have no such controls.

Other types of cashmere include:

Pashmina – Very fine cashmere originally produced in parts of northern India, Kashmir, and Pakistan.
Cashgora – Fiber from “breeding of feral cashmere goats with Angora goats in New Zealand and Australia.
Perino – Cashmere combined with the fur of Australian possums.
Pulled Cashmere – which is taken from the skins of slaughtered animals.

Sustainability Considerations

Raising cashmere goats can have negative environmental impacts

Cashmere goats can destroy the land, especially if over-grazed.
- Cashmere goats consume more than 10 percent of their body weight daily in roughage (NRDC)
- Goats eat a wider range of plant species than sheep. Because they forage more aggressively and tend to consume the whole plant down to the root, they destroying plants. (WWF)
- Their hooves pierce the soil, which can damage topsoil and grass root systems, preventing grass from re-growing.
- Many of China and Mongolia’s rich grasslands have been subject to desertification. This has led to increasingly severe and frequent dust storms in China that travel around the world. The United Nations Development Program found that 90% of Mongolia is fragile dry-land, under increasing threat of desertification.
Manure and enteric fermentation (livestock belching and passing gas) accounts for a significant amount of methane and greenhouse gas emissions globally and can contribute to climate change.
Excessive amounts of manure and other toxins entering the ground can degrade soil quality and contaminate waterways, contributing to problems like eutrophication.
Suggestions: Work with partners and suppliers to encourage and ensure sustainable herding practices, including protecting prices during downturns to stop herders over-stocking and promoting better pasture management.

Waste

Goats who are used and killed by the cashmere industry also provide meat and milk to herding communities, and the coarser outer fibers are used in non-fashion applications.
According to Encyclopedia Brittanica, fiber processing (to remove impurities) reduces the final yield by about 50 percent.
Recycled cashmere is currently usually made using pre-consumer waste.
Suggestions: Work to eliminate waste in your supply chain.

Cashmere should be a renewable resource, but currently it might not be

Cashmere should be a renewable resource since goats can provide multiple years worth of fleece and reproduce indefinitely. But given current climate change and degradation to grasslands, the cashmere industry might not currently be renewable. Because cashmere goats and fiber quality are so dependent on a specific environment, if that environment disappears so too may fine cashmere. Cashmere yields depend on harsh winter conditions to grow their high-quality undercoats, warmer climates mean less undercoat.
Suggestions: Reduce the quantity of cashmere used and consumed. Support organizations and producers working to shift production systems toward better practices that are more sustainable, resilient to climate change, manage pasturelands holistically, and implement early warning/disaster management systems to respond to negative weather events.

Animal rights can be an issue

Cashmere goats are generally raised by nomadic herders and live free-range lives, pretty good compared to most other livestock!
Some animal rights activists consider shearing to be inhumane, though goats are often combed to obtain cashmere.
Peta points out that goats have little fat on their bodies, and if their protective coats are shorn in midwinter before natural moulting, the vulnerable animals can die of cold stress.
A study conducted by the Wildlife Conservation Society found that as pastoralists expand goat herds to increase profits for the cashmere trade in Western markets, wildlife icons from the Tibetan Plateau to Mongolia suffer – including endangered snow leopard, wild yak, chiru, saiga, Bactrian camel, gazelles, and other remarkable but already endangered species of remote Central Asia. Ecological effects of the growth in goat herds include increasing conflicts with pastoralists, predation by dogs on wildlife, retaliatory killing of snow leopards and displacement of wildlife away from critical food habitats.
Suggestions: Work with suppliers that are transparent, that comb for cashmere (as opposed to shearing), and conform to the strictest standards of animal welfare, such as those embodied in the IWTO Specifications for Wool Sheep Welfare. Many vegans and organizations like Peta believe any kind of wool means suffering for animals, and encourage avoiding it completely.

Potential impacts during customer use care

Because wool is naturally odor resistant, and somewhat stain resistant, wool needs to be washed less frequently than other fibers. It is also resistant to wrinkling and recovers from wrinkles well, so very little ironing is required.
Cashmere should usually be hand washed in cold water or dry cleaned. Cashmere garments retain their size and shape when dry cleaned, so it is often recommended. Hand washing requires careful handling, to avoid shrinking and shape distortion.
A firm, soft brush (also called a sweater brush) can be used to remove pills and return matted fibers to their original position. Sweater combs and shavers can also be used, but can do more damage to the fibers. Cashmere knits can stretch on a hanger, and are best stored flat.
Cashmere can be tasty to moths and other insects, and thus is important to keep protected. Cedar is an excellent natural pest repeller, and can be placed around garments.
Suggestions: Design for air and hand washing over dry cleaning. Be sure to educate your customers about best consumer care practices. (See Stella McCartney’s video on air drying.) For hand-washing wool, this usually includes: 1) wash less, 2) use cool water, 3) gently squeeze, don’t stretch or agitate the garment, 4) avoid chlorine bleach and strong detergents, which can discolor or literally dissolve wool, 5) lay flat to dry.

Cashmere is biodegradable, depending on what is added to it

Untreated cashmere is completely biodegradable. Things like dye, toxic chemicals, blended fibers and trims can hinder biodegradability.
Suggestions: Design for optimal biodegradability. Be sure to educate your customers about how to dispose of the product, or even consider a company take-back program so you can re-use or properly dispose of the products you make.

More Sustainable Options

Consider avoiding cashmere:

According to rankings by organizations like the NRDC and Made-By, cashmere is ranked poorly when it comes to sustainability. Using the EP & L, Stella McCartney calculated that out of all the materials the company uses, virgin cashmere has the highest environmental impact – roughly 100 times that of wool. The NRDC recommends minimizing cashmere until sustainable supplies can catch up, and to seek fiber alternative whenever possible.
More sustainable alternatives to virgin cashmere could include recycled cashmere, recycled wool, or alpaca.

If you do use cashmere, look for cashmere that is:

Recycled – Companies like Patagonia, Stella McCartney, and Reformation are opting for recycled cashmere. According to Reformation, recycled cashmere is just as warm as conventional cashmere, but on average it has 80% less of the environmental impact. One example is Verso™ regenerated cashmere made from post-factory cashmere waste in Italy. Ideally, recycled content would be verified, for example by the Global Recycled Standard (GRS).
Sustainably grazed and raised – Companies like Kering, Maiyet and Naadam have worked closely with suppliers in Mongolia to help artisans acquire the skills and facilities necessary to create sustainable businesses. For example, after partnering with the Gobi Revival Fund, Maiyet worked with the nomad goat herders of Outer Mongolia to create FAIR, the world’s first ethically sourced and environmentally sustainable cashmere yarn.
Naturally Colored – Removing cashmere’s natural color and adding artificial color can have harmful environmental impacts, so try to use cashmere in its natural color. If color must be altered, opt for more sustainable dye options.

Fiber Qualities

Durable and resilient, though slightly less than fine wool and considerably weaker than mohair.
Resists wrinkles and maintains its shape well.
Cashmere is roughly eight times warmer than sheep’s wool, according to the Nature Conservancy.
Natural fiber colors include white, grey, and brown.
Hygroscopic, meaning wool absorbs water without feeling wet, much like wool.
Cashmere fibers are hollow, making them lightweight and easy to blend with other fibers. Cashmere absorbs chemicals and dyes easily

How It’s Made

During spring, usually May and June, cashmere goats molt their winter coats. Workers comb the goats to remove this fine hair. In some places where fiber quality is not as high, like Afghanistan, goats are shorn completely.
Fibers are sorted and sent to a de-hairing facility (usually in China), where as much as possible of the outer, courser hair is removed from the inner, finer fibers.
Cashmere is then scoured, cleaned and processed much like wool, sorted by quality and color, and then shipped to mills, often in china or Europe, to be spun into fine yarn.

This video from Discovery Channel’s How Its Made program demonstrates some of the process.

Available Standards & Certifications

Cradle to Cradle™ | Cashmere has been certified Cradle to Cradle™ in the past, but is not currently on the market.

Sustainable Fibre Alliance (SFA) Sustainable Cashmere Standard | Working with cashmere brands and retailers, NGOs, herders and other cashmere supply chain stakeholders, the SFA is developing the Sustainable Cashmere Standard, currently in pilot phase. It is intended that this Standard will serve as a recognized industry benchmark for sustainable cashmere production. This Standard will comprise institutional arrangements, procedures and requirements for accreditation of cashmere producers who comply with the SFA Codes of Practice (CoP)- Rangeland Stewardship and Animal Welfare. Those adhering are certified to use the ‘SFA Assured’ logo. The Codes of Practice currently include:

Grassland Management
Animal Welfare
Internal Control System
Cashmere Fiber Harvesting

Kering Standard on Cashmere | The Kering Standard on cashmere is designed to promote and encourage sourcing of cashmere from production systems that respect social and cultural values, support local livelihoods and drive more sustainable grazing practices and high standards of animal welfare. At minimum, suppliers must know the country of origin of the cashmere. Suppliers should also be aware of Kering’s Species-Specific Animal Welfare Standards for goats. Kering requires evidence and verification that its cashmere is sourced from producers that are engaged in ‘regenerative’ grazing practices (i.e. grazing practices that do not lead to overgrazing and degradation of the land). Proof of sustainable grazing can be supplied in the following ways:

Through certification against the Sustainable Fibre Alliance’s grassland management protocol
Through targeted verification of identified programmes for sustainable cashmere under the management of local, national or international agencies and NGOs

Kering also supports the use of recycled/regenerated cashmere. This type of cashmere is usually made with a high percent- age of high-grade, pre-consumer cashmere offcuts.

Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) | Organic certification of cashmere producers is very limited as of now, but growing in China according to Kering. It is important to note that a lot of cashmere could be considered organic since few, if any, toxic inputs are used in small-scale nomadic herding, but organic does not take into account land degradation and a lot of other problems associated with cashmere. The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) is recognized as the world’s leading standard for textiles made from organic fibers. GOTS covers textile processing, manufacturing, packaging, labeling, exportation, importation and distribution. It does not cover the cultivation of the plant, which is covered by governmental organic standards like the USDA Organic. In order to label an article with GOTS, each site along the GOTS supply chain needs to be certified and the product itself needs to contain a minimum amount of 70% organic fiber material.

Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) | The Textile Exchange RCS was originally developed in partnership with Outdoor Industry Association’s Sustainability Working Group’s Materials Traceability Task Force in 2013. It is an international, voluntary standard that sets requirements for third-party certification of Recycled input and chain of custody. The goal of the RCS is to increase the use of Recycled materials. You can see the full standard here.

The Global Recycled Standard (GRS) | The Global Recycled Standard is a holistic certification for products with recycled content. The desired effect of the GRS is to provide brands with a tool for more accurate labeling, to encourage innovation in the use of reclaimed materials, to establish more transparency in the supply chain, and to provide better information to consumers. The Global Recycled Standard (GRS) is an international, voluntary, full product standard that sets requirements for third-party certification of Recycled Content, chain of custody, social and environmental practices, and chemical restrictions. The goal of the GRS is to increase use of Recycled materials in products and reduce/eliminate the harm caused by its production. It is intended for use with any product that contains at least 20% Recycled Material. Each stage of production is required to be certified, beginning at the recycling stage and ending at the last seller in the final business-to-business transaction. You can see the full standard here.

Organizations & Working Groups

Sustainable Fibre Alliance (SFA) | Founded in 2015, the Sustainable Fibre Alliance is a non-profit international organization working with the extended cashmere supply chain, from herders to retailers. Their goal is to promote a global sustainability standard for cashmere production in order to preserve and restore grasslands, ensure animal welfare and secure livelihoods. They provide an independent, non-competitive platform that enables end to end cashmere supply chain, non government and government organizations to come together with a common interest in ensuring sustainability in the cashmere industry. The Sustainable Fibre Alliance has three clear goals:

Environmental resilience in cashmere producing regions.
Improved long-term prospects for herding communities that rely on cashmere markets.
Assurance on animal welfare within cashmere production.

WCS Mongolia Sustainable Cashmere Project | The Program on Sustainable and Wildlife-Friendly Cashmere Value Chain (also referred to as the Sustainable Cashmere Project) is based on a market-based approach to achieving conservation outcomes. WCS works with communities in the Gobi desert, where cashmere, the primary source of income for herders, is being used as a point of entry to engaging local communities with sustainable livestock husbandry and wildlife-friendly practices. The Gobi desert, with its unique populations of Asiatic wild ass, goitered gazelle, ibex, argali and snow leopards, is also an area with large populations of camels, goats and other livestock that directly compete for pasture resources with this wildlife. WCS is providing technical support on livestock health, breeding, nutrition, pasture management, and wildlife conservation to local communities, in addition to linking herders to a luxury fashion company that has been paying a premium price on their cashmere since 2015. Through this premium pricing scheme that recognizes the sustainable efforts of the herders, WCS Mongolia’s goal is to establish a replicable model that will eventually become self-sustaining through market mechanisms, while achieving conservation results. This project is based on a collaborative partnership with Kering Group (a luxury fashion group), Oyu Tolgoi LLC (a copper mine), the Natural Capital Project, Wildlife-Friendly Enterprise Network, Sustainable Fiber Alliance, Nutag Academy, VET Net NGO and the Bankhar Guardian Dog project, among various others.

Agronomes & Veterinaires Sans Frontieres (AVSF) | AVSF has been supporting nomadic livestock farmers in Mongolia since 2004, helping preserve not only their culture and their traditional way of life (which is arduous yet fragile, and based on respect for the natural environment) but also their main activity for economic survival. AVSF has also been striving to increase the resilience of livestock farmers faced with climate variability and risks. AVSF and its local partners (livestock farmer federations and cooperatives) are working mainly on improving animal health systems and livestock farming practices to increase their productivity. AVSF created livestock farmer federations in the Arkhangai (more than 850 livestock farmers) and Bayankhongor provinces, which are now capable of managing the animal health and zootechnical advising services. AVSF also developed supply chains for the sale of high-quality animal products on the national (meat and milk) and international (yak fiber and cashmere) markets. As a result, the 120 families of the yak farmer cooperative from the Khangai Mountains (created with the assistance of AVSF) export large quantities of yak down to Europe and North America. The federations, assisted by AVSF in improving their capacity to defend their members’ interests vis-à-vis decision-makers, are also leading groups of livestock farmers to use water and pasture resources collectively and sustainably.

Fiber Guide: Cashmere

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