Cashmere: Who’s right?

Some environmental campaigners use the bad practises of cruel, negligent, dumb people, who generally couldn’t care less about goats or the environment, to accuse herders of criminal standards of animal welfare. And as a consequence, some brands have made a big noise about no longer using cashmere.

But we think we should support those people who underpin a socially equitable, environmentally responsible, animal-protecting cashmere industry to give us a 100% natural, biodegradable yarn that doesn’t shed microplastics or pollute our seas. 

So who’s right? We went to Inner Mongolia to see for ourselves.

Most cashmere goats have a jolly life. During the summer the Rangelands of Inner Mongolia look a bit like Yorkshire but without the hills. Oh, and the stone walls. And the tea shops. It’s lots of grass, is what I’m trying to say. The goats run around the grass having a nibble, then run around some more. A herder on a motorbike might get bossy now and again, and insist it’s going-home-time, but mainly it’s full-on play with a load of mates.

Mongolian goats grow a thicker layer of hair during the extremely cold Mongolian winters when the goats have to travel further to look for food, getting their 10,000+ steps in on the way. The freezing temperatures encourage that extra layer of hair, and all that exercise ensures a super-healthy goat. This bodes well for the herder because they get paid more for longer, finer fibres. The herders allow their goats to roam the rangelands of Inner Mongolia all day long, then when it’s bedtime, they come back in for a snuggly night in a pen, with central heating and spa-style music, extra food and preventative medicine.

To get Grade A Cashmere, you need to gently comb it out - from a goat’s underbelly. The best quality fibre is super fine (14-15.5 microns) and super long (34-36mm), and the fibre is combed out, very gently, in the Spring when the warmer layer is no longer needed. You’d be a very hot goat if you had that extra layer in summer, because like the winters, summers in Inner Mongolia are extreme. But if it weren’t combed out, the layer would fall out on its own, like a dog’s undercoat leaves a trail of fluff all over your sofa. Some herders shear their goats, just like sheep get sheared, if the fibre is not going to be long enough to meet the Grade A criteria. But just like most shepherds, most herders don’t hurt the goats during the shearing. 

Inner Mongolia has diverse landscapes. There are rocky bits, deserty bits and grassy plains for as far as the eye can see. The grassy plains are where the happiest goats live. To future-proof their labours, the herders rotate where the goats graze, giving the land has time to regenerate. Clever science has given the herders access to sustainable environmental plans, linked to digitised welfare records, not only of the goats but also the plains. The herders care about the land and goats because it directly impacts their own lives and those of their families. 

Of course, some goats won’t get that jolly life. You’d have to be a pretty dumb herder to damage the source of your income - but we all know some pretty dumb, negligent people and of course we can’t account for everyone in the cashmere supply chain. No one can. It’s impossible to speak for people we don’t know and can’t control.

But perhaps radical environmental campaigners should be a little less quick to judge and look a little further along the lifecycle of a garment before they decide what is best for the future of our world.