SUSTAINABILITY
At Soft Goat we started our sustainability journey in 2016 and the most important thing to us, when it comes to sustainability, is transparency. We believe in openness throughout the production chain for a sustainable future. Therefore, we make sure to visit our factories and suppliers every year.
Do you have any questions regarding Soft Goat and sustainability?
Contact [email protected].
THE GOATS & RAW MATERIAL
The choice of our raw material is the core of our company. Cashmere wool comes from cashmere goats living in an extremely cold climate on the high plateaus of the Gobi desert stretching between China, Mongolia, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Since the raw material comes from living animals, animal welfare is very important to us. We make sure to only work with nomadic herders and farmers who take good care of their goats. In the spring, when the goats start to shed their winter coat, they are combed or trimmed by hand to extract the downy undercoat. The undercoat consists of fine and soft hairs that protects the goat from the cold during the winter. It is the soft undercoat that is being used when making cashmere yarn.
When it is time to gather the cashmere wool, professionals who only work with gathering come to the farms. They trim the goats one at a time and usually two or three people trim one goat to minimize the time and stress for the goat. The undercoat is washed and then sent to factories to be spun into yarn. It takes about two to four years for a goat to produce enough wool to knit a cashmere sweater.
To protect the animals involved in our cashmere wool production, we developed an Animal Welfare Policy in the autumn of 2023 and shared it with all our subcontractors. Read more here.
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OUR MATERIALS
All the yarn used by Soft Goat is OEKO-TEX® certified, ensuring our products meet strict standards for harmful substances in textiles and clothing while upholding high human ecology requirements. As a customer, you can always feel assured of this when purchasing and wearing our products.
In our assortment we produce garments in 100% cashmere, as well as wool blends and silk blends. We also offer woven materials, such as our outerwear assortment, made in woven wool and cashmere blends. The wool that we use for wool blends is RWS-certified. Responsible wool standard is a voluntary standard that address the welfare of sheep and the land they graze on. By producing blended materials we can offer a wider range of knitted garments.
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OUR FACTORIES
We use a total of ten subcontractors in the form of knitting factories, woven factories and yarn factories. We work with three larger suppliers of yarn and a few smaller ones which can vary from season to season.
KNITTING FACTORY: CHIFENG, CHINA
Our knitted garments are produced at this factory. Here, the garments get knitted, linked and controlled until they are finally sent to our warehouse in Stockholm. There are around 100 workers at the factory and it is located in one of the largest areas that are handling raw cashmere and cashmere knitwear production.
The factory has signed our code of conduct.
Visited by the Soft Goat production team in 2023.
KNITTING FACTORY: JIAXING, CHINA
Our knitted garments are produced at this factory. Here, the garments get knitted, linked and controlled until they are finally sent to our warehouse in Stockholm. There are around 140 workers at the factory.
The factory has signed our code of conduct
Visited by the Soft Goat production team in 2024.
FACTORY FOR ACCESSORIES: HUHOT, INNER MONGOLIA
This factory produces most of our gloves, slippers and socks.
The factory has signed our code of conduct.
We have not been able to visit this factory yet.
FACTORY FOR WOVEN PRODUCTS: TONGXJIANG, ZHEJIANG
Our woven coats and jackets are produced at this factory. There are 30 people working at this factory. Producing woven cashmere products with a beautiful finish and high quality requires specialized techniques and expertise. That’s why all our woven products are made here. The skilled workers at this factory ensure we achieve the best possible results and exceptional quality.
The factory signed our code of conduct.
Visited by the Soft Goat production team in 2024.
FACTORY FOR CAPS: DONGGUAN CITY, GUANGDONG
This factory produces our caps and hats. There are 90 people working on this factory.
The factory signed our code of conduct.
We have not been able to visit this factory yet.
YARN FACTORY: NINGBO, CHINA
At this factory, the cashmere wool is being spun to yarn in different colors. This factory use modern Italian machines in their production. During our visit, we got the opportunity to speak to a couple of people working in the factory and they all gave us the impression that they enjoyed working at the factory. The average working hours are 8 h with 1 hour free for lunch and they work either 5 or 6 days per week. Overtime is voluntarily and paid.
The factory has signed our code of conduct.
Visited by the Soft Goat team in April 2018.
YARN FACTORY: ORDOS, INNER MONGOLIA
At this factory, the cashmere wool is being spun to yarn in different colors. There are around 500 people working at this factory and they produce up to 10,000 tons of cashmere per year.
This factory has signed our code of conduct.
Visited by the Soft Goat team in January 2020.
YARN FACTORY: XINGTAI, CHINA
At this factory, the cashmere wool is being spun to yarn in different colors. Around 320 people are working at this factory, and they produce up to 1200 tons of cashmere per year.
The factory has signed our code of conduct.
Visited by the Soft Goat team in January 2020.
YARN FACTORY: FLORENCE, ITALY
At this factory, recycled cashmere is being spun into yarn. The old sweaters arrive to this factory to be broken down and spun into recycled yarn. The factory has 85 employees.
The factory has signed our code of conduct.
Visited by the Soft Goat team in September 2021.
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CODE OF CONDUCT
Together with the sustainability agency U&We we have developed a Code of Conduct that all of our factories have signed. The Code of Conduct is based on internationally recognized principals for protection of human rights and workers’ rights according to UN:s general declaration regarding human rights. It also keeps building on relevant international agreements on the protection of the environment and animal welfare.
We have spent years finding the best factories, factories which have good working conditions and deliver the best quality. By continuously visiting our factories, we work on building good relationships with the owners and make sure that the good working conditions are kept. The code of conduct makes sure that our factories and suppliers follow our standards, and informs them of what is being expected of them.
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SUSTAINABILITY AND CLIMATE REPORTS
Our first sustainability report was published in 2018.
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WHAT CAN YOU DO?
As a customer, you can contribute to reduce the environmental impact by taking good care of your garment. Vent the garment between uses, wash the garment with other garments in a similar color to reduce the water usage. Use a liquid detergent and flat dry your garment. Store it folded in your closet with cedar tree balls.
Extend the life span of the garment by using our Care and Repair service. We recondition and repair it for you, giving it a new and fresh feeling.
When shopping with us you can choose Eco wrapping, which is a more environmental friendly option. Your package will then be shipped in one box instead of two, and in that way we reduce the consumption of unnecessary packaging.
This text gets updated continuously; this text was updated 2025-02-18