partnerships

The active involvement of animal-protection and environmental organisations is another key point in favour of the standard.

Perhaps the most fundamental result already achieved is the culture of collaboration that it has created. Gone are the days when companies told themselves that they could tackle sustainability alone. Co-operation is taking off with other pasture-based projects in the rest of Mongolia. There has been a “step change”, evidenced by the national roundtable on sustainab le cashmere organised by the United Nations Development Program in June. This event, which brought together buyers, the government and the scientific community, is one of the tangible results of Kering’s pioneering initiative.

Recognizing the daily hardship the community had to endure, Scanlan and Rijsemus decided to work with Gobi Revival Fund, a local nonprofit, to set up veterinary insurance, breeding, and anti-dissertation programs. But they were told a year later that the programs failed to directly improve the local families’ livelihood.

We want to highlight and draw attention to the nomadic people behind the raw materials, generating cruelty-free cashmere and yak fibers, while adding the Swiss sensibility for quality in the creation of lasting, exceptional products. The Swiss design component will ensure that our garment specifications, used for manufacture in Mongolia, yield high quality, functional and sustainable luxury for you.

Based on our conviction that collaborations can make a great difference, we are working with recognised institutions such as amfori BSCI to monitor and improve social standards in the supply chain and with AbTF to procure standardised, sustainable cashmere. We are pleased that other companies have already joined the standard and would welcome additional partners to this network. If the demand for sustainable cashmere rises, the supply rise as well, and we will be able to achieve more for animal welfare, environmental protection and sustainable cashmere production.

Large scale international brands, such as Gucci, and H&M, have expressed their readiness to partner if cashmere is prepared in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way in Mongolia. The statement was made by representat ives of the aforementioned companies during the conference that was jointly organized by the UNDP and the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry under the theme, ‘Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration for Systemic Change: The Case of Sustainable Cashmere in Mongolia’ on June 12. The discussion was held in aims of develo ping environmentally friendly cashmere production and supporting the initiative in Mongolia.

partnerships Efforts to build sustainable commodity chains require collaborations between different actors. These need to transcend individual brands.