At the recent Sourcing at MAGIC show, held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, factories from 43 countries tried to appeal to designers and retailers that offer private-label clothing with pitches that also addressed quality, flexibility, compliance and provenance.
Occupying nearly 5,000 square feet at the front entrance of the convention center’s South Hall, international manufacturers highlighted their expertise in everything from epoxy resin enamel jewelry and colorfully dyed leather to sublimation printing and drape cardigans.
One organization that was particularly keen to get their name out there was the Mongolian Wool and Cashmere Association. Established in 1993, the association comprises of 15 complex production factories, 23 primary elaborating factories and over 50 textile factories, producing around 1.2 million of textiles exporting to over 20 countries.
Cashmere is the second largest hard currency-earning export of Mongolia, which makes the emerging Asian nation the world’s second largest producer of the coveted goat’s wool, after China.
According to the latest available statistics, Mongolia produces 6,700 tons of raw cashmere annually, accounting for about 28 percent of the total world supply. The number of cashmere goats in the country increased almost 300 percent between 1990 and 2009. During the same period, the amount of raw cashmere produced increased by 450 percent.
As one of the softest, warmest and longest-lasting materials on the market today, cashmere is said to be eight times warmer than sheep’s wool and about that many times softer. It is also one of the most expensive natural materials on the market today.
Mongolia’s climate and geography is suited for herding cashmere goats, which thrive in harsh dry mountainous climates and produce the highest quality of wool. In moderate climates, goats lose the ability to grow the downy coats that produce the quality cashmere necessary for making luxury garments.
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