In recent years, we’ve seen the emergence of “organic cashmere” and even “organic cashmere” labels for various brands, some of them cashmere specialists. But what’s really going on with these cashmere labels?
Organic cashmere is practically impossible to find on the market.
Cashmere itself is a material relatively close to the organic spirit. The goats live in the wild or on small farms. There are no large herds. They average 300 head, which is relatively small. Unlike some livestock (salmon, pigs, etc.), goats don’t eat pellets or processed products; they eat grass when they’re out in the wild, or forage when they’re in enclosed pens.
So, compared with other livestock farms, goats have a very healthy life. But that doesn’t make them “organic” in the literal sense.
There’s only one way for cashmere to be organic, and that’s to be GOTS certified. GOTS, or Global Organic Textile Standard, is a leading international certification for textiles produced from organic agricultural fibers. It is the only guarantee that cashmere is organic.
Yet the quantities of GOTS cashmere available on the market are ridiculous, and virtually impossible to find. Or at stratospheric prices. Production of GOTS cashmere is virtually non-existent, because there is such a demand for cashmere that breeders don’t feel the need to make the effort to pursue certification. In general, they consider themselves to be already organic, and don’t yet appreciate the benefits of being able to prove it via a label. It has to be said that GOTS certification is very restrictive, and will be easier to apply on farms where the goats are sedentary for reasons of traceability. Whereas, by their very nature, goats belonging to nomadic herds and travelling in search of pastures are by definition much more respectful of the organic spirit.
There are indeed a few tons of GOTS certified hair produced each year, but they are immediately captured by a few luxury brands, generally Italian, who then offer their basics in 2-ply starting at €1000.
In summary, you will not find organic cashmere on the market, and certainly not at reasonable prices.
However, at Mahogany, we have not given up and are pursuing several avenues with the goal of releasing a capsule collection in organic cashmere in the coming years.
And what about organic cashmere or organic cashmere ?
Organic cashmere is an invention of some cashmere spinning mills, mainly Chinese, that sell yarn under the misappropriated label “organic” or “organic,” which is made in the natural colors of the goat.
In fact, “organic” and “bio” are synonyms. Therefore, only GOTS certified cashmere should be called organic. You can see that this is never the case for brands that use these terms.
The use of the word organic is clearly greenwashing, if not a complete scam.
To Asia’s credit, the word “organic” doesn’t exactly have the same meaning as in Europe or the USA. Here’s an anecdote: 4 years ago, our Mahogany brand was approached to buy organic Cashmere yarn. We’ve been buying our yarn jointly with our Nepal-based knitter for 18 years.
We asked them to check with the spinning mill whether the cashmere was indeed organic. Our Nepalese partners replied in good faith: “But Philippe, of course Cashmere is organic, since it comes from goats that live in the wild. …”.
In conclusion: even though certifications are demanding, we can see that they serve a purpose ! 🙂
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