ORGANIC CASHMERE
Friday, February 15
Scottish cashmere yarn spinner Todd & Duncan has launched a range of organic cashmere yarns and expects 10 – 15% of its cashmere will be labelled organic in 2008 with this figure eventually rising to 25% of the cashmere fibre it uses.

At the recent Pitti Filati yarn fair in Florence, Todd & Duncan showed the new cashmere yarn made from certified 100% organic fibre, sourced from Qinghai, a province in North West China. It is expected the new organic cashmere will be sold, initially, on a bespoke basis to customers promoting the very highest ethical standards.

The 140 year old company, which has a spinning plant on the banks of Lochleven resolved that between 10 – 15% of its total fibre usage for cashmere yarn production will be made from organic fibre this year with a view to this rising to 25% in the next few years.

Todd & Duncan says that organic cashmere fibre is taken from managed free-range goats that roam freely on fertile areas of grassland, free from all pesticides and insecticides in Qinghai, which due to its extreme weather conditions produces some of the finest white and brown cashmere fibre in the world.

The company is also taking steps through organic cashmere fibre sourcing and refining its own manufacturing procedures over the next 12 –18 months with a view to meeting the standards laid down by the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS).

"This is part of a long term strategy to offer added value and choice to customers," explained James McArdle, managing director of Todd & Duncan, "as well as taking ethical responsibility as a leader in the cashmere industry."

By ecotextile.com

THE LATEST ORGANIC CASHMERE NEWS, FROM THE ORGANIC HOME