Four Fabulous Fibres

Mongolian Exporters at EU Fairs

At Maison & Objet Paris, 4 Mongolian exporters will showcase their newly developed textiles. They are working with the 4 beautiful natural fibers Mongolia has to offer: cashmere from goats, camel hair, yak down and sheep wool. Their collections include home textiles such as throws and cushion covers, home wear, and fashion accessories such as shawls, hats and socks. One Mongolian exporter will exhibit their range of felted home slippers at Ambiente Frankfurt in February.

The four fibres come from free roaming animals, cared for by nomadic herders. Each nomad family has a carefully balanced herd, usually consisting of 5 types of animals: goat, sheep, horse and cow, with yak in the North, and camel in the South of Mongolia.

The colder the climate, the finer the cashmere. After the harsh winter, the herders comb the neck and belly of the goat to obtain the raw material. The yak and camel hair are also gathered just once a year by combing the animal, and come in beautiful natural shades.Read more about Mongolia's precious raw materials in the article 'Harsh Land, Softest Fibres'

Craftscurator traveled to Mongolia in November to work with 11 suppliers, and had the opportunity to see the animals as well as the production process up close. Most manufacturers have the entire process under one roof; from de-hairing the fibres to spinning to knitting or weaving the product. See the ‘Industrial Inspiration’ article for more information on this ‘vertical’ production process.

At Maison & Objet Paris, January 19-23, 2018 in hall 1 B79 you will find;

Bodio's of Mongolia manufactures knitted home wear, fashion accessories and home textiles. Their founder Bodio sources fibres directly from Mongolian herders, hand-picking the finest qualities. They specialize in yak down, which is just as soft, and warmer than cashmere. Bodio's only uses the undyed yak. Their precious fibres are all processed in-house, and they spend more time on finishing than any other producer. As a result, their knitwear is super smooth.

Munkh Cashmere is a Mongolian brand specialized in knitted home textiles and home wear. They design and develop their own ranges, and have in-house production at the highest quality standards. Their new collection showcases lots of pattern and texture, and we combine the natural shade of the undyed yak wool with pop colour accents in cashmere.

Nans Cashmere is a Mongolian lifestyle brand working with the highest quality cashmere. They design their own ranges, and collaborate with other brands to develop products. Product ranges include home textiles and home wear, all perfectly finished and showing Nans’ sophisticated and delicate signature. Nans is a boutique manufacturer working with high quality standards.

Uujin is a knit manufacturer using innovative techniques to make home textiles. They ethically source yak wool from West Mongolia, a region that is known for its mountains, deserts and very cold temperatures, and therefore the yak fiber is particularly fine and strong. They use this yak down in pure form, but also blend with soft baby camel wool or fine cashmere. Design is done in-house, and new techniques are developed in their workshop, where they also do their small scale production.

At Ambiente Frankfurt, February 9-13, 2018 in hall 10.1 C51 you will find;

Angel Felting makes handfelted home slippers made of renewable sheep wool, which they buy directly from herders. Using leftover material, they make an ‘endless’ knot or loop to decorate the shoe. They take care of the workers and their families, by providing work and income for their local community. They are in the process of being Fair Trade certified.

Cashmere Holding is not participating in any trade fairs in Spring 2018. Their woven cashmere throws and shawls are finished to perfection. The entire process - from fibre to finish is done in their factory in Ulaan Bataar.

These companies are all participants in CBI’s Export Coaching Programme. In the Maison & Objet stand you will also find 11 companies from Egypt. At Ambiente, you can meet suppliers from South Africa, Nepal, Ghana, Indonesia, Tanzania and Egypt. Craftscurator Irene Vermeulen has been coaching the Mongolian and South African exporters, for more information This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..