What Makes ‘Good’ Cashmere Great

We have high aspirations for what we want to achieve as a brand, and our sustainability purpose informs exactly how we achieve them - from the materials we source to how we transport our collections. One of the ways we make sure we’re hitting our sustainability mark is by sourcing the best + most responsible cashmere we can. That’s where the Good Cashmere Standard® comes in. You’ll see us mention this Standard when we're talking about some of our knitwear pieces, so let’s dive a little deeper into what it actually means.

What is the GCS?

Despite its humble name, the Good Cashmere Standard® is an innovative company that’s proudly transforming the cashmere industry. Developed by the non-profit Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF), the GCS® aims to improve the welfare of cashmere goats, the working conditions of herders and protect the environment, including the land it uses.

We joined the GCS as members at the start of 2025, and are successfully sourcing the majority of our cashmere through the standard, in partnership with our suppliers. By doing this, we gain full traceability across the entire cashmere supply chain, from the goats and farms in Inner Mongolia all the way to the final sweater.

Cashmere Goat Welfare

The welfare of the cashmere goats is one of the standard’s fundamental concerns. To ensure happy + healthy goats, the Good Cashmere Standard adheres to the new benchmark for the production of cashmere and the care of animals, based on the Five Domains of Animal Welfare model by Professor David J. Mellor.

This model draws on scientific and ethical research to understand animal welfare and, therefore, offers a holistic approach to their care. The model includes more than 150 indicators to provide clear guidelines for the nutrition, keeping, handling, shearing, and health management of the animals. In layperson's terms, these goats are very well looked after.

There are five key domains to understand if you want to raise happy goats: nutrition, environment, health, behaviour and mental state.

Animals need an enriching environment, and for goats, this means a varied terrain where they can climb, explore, and graze in ways consistent with their natural behaviour. While the goats are given space and land to roam, they're also provided regular veterinary care, disease prevention and a supplemented balanced diet to ensure optimum health.

Another key area of goat welfare upheld under the GCS is ensuring positive human-animal interactions. This is crucial to the animal's well-being and is achieved through gentle handling and trust-building with the herders.

Protecting The Environment

Following the health and welfare of the goats, preserving the environment is the second-largest concern of the GCS. Goats need a lot of land, and if you don't know much about goats, know this: they eat a lot. If goats are confined to one place, they'll graze it down to the ground, which is not good for the natural landscape.

It's through sustainable land management and targeted rotational grazing systems (which also provide fertilisation) that the herders can contribute to the farm's long-term resilience, while also benefiting the surrounding environment. Maintaining and conserving grassland can improve soil health, restore degraded land, and increase soil organic matter. Enhancing the land by planting bushes and vegetation not only provides an enriching habitat for animals but also protects the soil from wind-induced erosion.  

For more detailed information about how The Good Cashmere Standard ensures the well-being of the goats, land and people, you can read more here.

Full Traceability

One of the most significant benefits of partnering with The Good Cashmere Standard is having access to the complete traceability of the cashmere. The cashmere farms are located in Inner Mongolia, and must abide by the criterion of care towards people, animals and the environment as set out by the standard. But it doesn’t just stop there. Using GCS cashmere means we have full visibility of our supply chain from the farms where it’s produced to our trusted long-term suppliers based in China, before it reaches us. As members of the Good Cashmere Standard, we're proud to collaborate with our suppliers to raise the standards of cashmere production.