Annotations - cashmere price too low

The main issue regarding the sustainability credentials of cashmere comes down to the democratisation of the fashion industry, which has impacted the cashmere market greatly, as the material has become accessible on all levels. Once a very expensive luxury commodity, you can now find cashmere on the high street and courtesy of fast-fashion brands, affordable to more consumers and mass produced for greater profits. Ultimately, this means that the demand for cashmere has grown to a point where it is no longer sustainable.

The mass production of cashmere, once solely a luxury good, is fueling ecological de­ struction that has fashion la­ bels searching for new sources of the fiber—or giving it up al­ together. Herds of cashmere goats, whose hair is used to produce the soft fabric, have grown sharply since the turn of the century in China and Mongo­ lia, which supply 90% of the world’s cashmere. The once-scarce fiber has become cheap enough for mass-market labels, resulting in billions of dollars in sales, but with ecological consequences. Millions of goats are chewing through the vast grasslands, known as steppe, that straddle the Mongolian-Chinese border. Nearly 60% of Mongolian pas­ ture land is degraded, the Mon­ golian government says, includ­ ing large swaths that have turned into desert.

Presentation of the problem, as one facing fashion labels.

Even Mongolia's nomads have been caught up in the country's debt problem. Loans have become an annual ritual on Mongolia's steppes, where herders capitalising on a growing market for cashmere are hostage to a downward cycle of falling margins and deteriorating pastures

[publisher] It was one of the fastest-growing emerging markets during the commodities boom. Since the bust, the government and ordinary Mongolians have traded a culture of self-sufficiency for deep indebtedness.

Mongolia's herders raise camels, horses, cows, and sheep, but the fastest-growing herds are goats, thanks mostly to the swift rise in global demand for cashmere. More than a decade ago, fast fashion and increased knitting capacity in China helped push the soft wool, once a luxury product for the rich, to a mass market consumer good. Mongolia is now the world's second-largest cashmere producer, after China.

As with a lot of natural materials, sourcing those cashmere fibres can have a negative impact on the animals it comes from, and the planet, too. If the goats are sheared too soon in the year, they won’t have a thick enough coat to protect them from the elements. A higher demand for cheaper cashmere means more goats, and the land they live on is suffering because of that. More hungry goats means less grass, which can turn that once-green land into a desert. There’s a human impact, as well, with questionable conditions for the goat herders, and less pay as cashmere gets cheaper.

We would love to see a market where herders are rewarded for managing their herds sustainably and within the carrying capacity of their pasture, rather than rewarding herders with large herds and high yields that overgraze pasture and are at increased risk from dzud and climate change.

In the current climate, cashmere pullovers are retailing at a significantly reduced price and are no longer considered to be a luxury item. Cashmere has become less exclusive and is now a more affordable commodity. Subsequently, the grasslands of Mongolia are paying the price. The social impact created by underpaid farmers and an opaque supply chain is also a source of concern. With alarm bells ringing worldwide, particularly in the fashion industry; we need to respond urgently

As demand from the mass market has grown, herd sizes have also grown, but Mongolian herders have been earning less money per goat. In the past 20 years, the total number of goats in Mongolia has increased fourfold, and there are currently more than 24 million goats roaming Mongolia's rangelands