Interface News Reporter | Lu Fei
Shuttling through the grasslands and pastures of Zoige County, black yaks dot the green grass, and the herdsmen follow behind the herds, forming a stroke in this vast and magnificent picture.
Ruoergai County belongs to Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province and is located on the northeastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. In 2022, in order to fulfill the International Convention on Wetlands and protect national ecological security, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration of Sichuan and Gansu provinces will carry out the establishment of Zoige National Park. Its creation area is located at the junction of Sichuan, Gansu and Qinghai provinces, the upper reaches of the Yellow River, involving Sichuan and Gansu provinces, and belongs to the ecological and geographical area of forest, grassland and snow mountains on the eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with a total area of 13,829.27 square kilometers.
At the beginning of May, in the early stage of the natural shedding of yaks, Jiangnan Buyi, together with Zha Qiongcang Ecological and Cultural Development Center, yak wool brand Shokay Xiujia and Aoyang woolen velvet launched the "from the snow area velvet in nature" yak wool exploration tour activity was carried out in Ruoergai area, Aba Prefecture, Sichuan, tracing the source of the yak living environment at the same time, personally participating in the grassland ecological restoration, leaving hope of grass seeds on the 290 acres of grass without grass on the "black soil beach".
And the story of Jiangnan cloth and yak wool should start earlier.
What is the charm of the nameless yak cashmere?
The Zoige region, where the grassland is rich, is an important habitat for yaks. As a national first-class protected animal in China, the yak has extremely high habitat requirements and only exists in alpine areas above 3,000 meters above sea level.
Except for a small number of yaks distributed in Mongolia, India, Afghanistan and other countries, China is the only country in the world that has mastered the bulk of yak cattle breeds, and 95% of the world's yaks are grown in China's Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
Yak wool is an extremely rare natural fiber raw material, which falls off the yak naturally and is only harvested once a year from June to August. The annual output of adult yak does not exceed 300 grams, and the combed yak cashmere, which can be used as a textile raw material, accounts for only about 10% of the total. Coupled with the scarcity of yak resources, yak wool is one of the rare natural fibers that is most promising to become China's business card.
The unique structure of yak wool also gives it excellent natural properties.
The medulla layer in the yak wool fiber has a bamboo-like structure, which is conducive to air accumulation and therefore has excellent thermal insulation properties. The strength of yak wool fiber monofilament is 1.5 times higher than that of cashmere, which makes yak cashmere products have good toughness, wear resistance, and are not easy to pill when worn.
The founder of the Zhaqiongcang Ecological and Cultural Development Center, Zhaqiong Barang, is a native of Ruoergai. He has witnessed the ups and downs of the market value of yak cashmere.
According to Zajongbarang, in the past, herders used yak wool to make black winter tents, and yak wool to make summer tents, which is very important in nomadic life. However, the process of making winter tents was replaced by other materials, and yak wool lost its practical value for a time.
But later, as participants in the branding of yak wool products, such as Shokay, began to emerge, herders realized that they could make economic gains by selling yak wool. For a while, the price of yak cashmere soared, even approaching the market price of cashmere. However, due to the lack of market awareness of yak wool and the instability of supply and demand, the price is still prone to fluctuations.
As a rare natural fiber, yak wool comes in a deep brown hue or a subtle gray hue. This primary color, which is given by nature, not only gives yak wool products a unique and elegant atmosphere, but also shows excellent color fastening performance. Regardless of sun exposure or repeated cleaning, the color of yak wool products still maintains a pure and original ecological style, and will never fade as quickly as ordinary fibers.
What's more, yak cashmere has the industrial value of sustainable development. Yak has become an indispensable part of the ecological environment balance in Tibet because of its low oxygen consumption, low carbon emission, herbivorous food does not harm vegetation roots, and manure can be used as fertilizer and vegetation seed dispersal carrier.
That's why yak wool is seen as the best choice for high-end fashion and fine home textiles, highlighting its unrivalled value in natural rarity and exceptional quality.
However, when it comes to yak-related industrial chains, in addition to yak meat, milk and other food categories are more developed, the industrial chain around yak wool has not yet been fully formed, and the level of industrialization is low.
Clothing brands and upstream industrial chains are still yak cashmere as a niche raw material, with less procurement, herders cannot receive a stable demand for yak cashmere, and there is a lack of large-scale collection, which also leads to the price of yak wool has always been unstable.
Shokay is a brand enterprise specializing in the supply and production of yak cashmere, and controls both the To B and To C end of the business. Qiao Wanshan, founder of Shokay Xiujia, said that the market price of yak wool is 60 yuan to 70 yuan per kilogram, which is a relatively stable state, and the price of yak raw wool purchased when Xiujia was first established in 2007 is only 15 yuan per kilogram, which also shows that the value of yak wool has been slowly excavated.
In addition to the high price caused by the scarcity of yak cashmere itself, the original cashmere has an 80% loss rate after cleaning and processing. This means that the cost price of yak cashmere used can be reached at about 300 yuan to 400 yuan per kilogram, which is close to the market price of cashmere raw materials in Outer Mongolia.
However, unlike cashmere, which has a broad market recognition and a complete industrial chain, the entire yak cashmere industry is currently facing many challenges such as incomplete industrial chain, uneven quality of raw materials, backward processing technology, insufficient brand influence, weak support for scientific and technological innovation, standards and regulations to be improved, difficulties in connecting supply and demand, and low consumer awareness.
This requires all parties to enter the bureau to solve it, form a virtuous circle of the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, enhance comprehensive competitiveness, give full play to the unique resource advantages of yak cashmere, and promote green and sustainable development.
Jiangnan Buyi fell in love with yak wool very early
Although yak cashmere, as a rare and high-quality natural fiber, should be favored for its unique natural attributes and cultural connotations, there are not many brands in the apparel industry that can truly apply it to products. Jiangnan Buyi is the first pioneer in the industry to recognize and attach importance to the potential of yak cashmere.
As early as 2017, LESS, a high-end women's clothing brand under Jiangnan Buyi, took the lead in releasing a product line using yak cashmere, and then launched the first yak cashmere-themed series of clothing in 2021, which shows Jiangnan Buyi's unique vision and forward-looking layout for this precious natural fiber.
Zheng Dandan, general manager of Jiangnan Buyi's public relations, said that Jiangnan Buyi's original intention to start the "Make the Best Use of Cloth" project in 2022 is to spend five years to sort out traditional Chinese handicrafts and innovate in inheritance. This year, yak wool has been included in the scope of in-depth research, and it is planned to truly develop a high-end fabric representing China to the world.
With the in-depth research and innovative application of original fabrics, Jiangnan Cloth not only excavates the excellent quality of yak wool in terms of comfort and warmth, strength and durability, but also unlocks the infinite potential of this fiber in the field of high-end fashion, presenting consumers with a unique light luxury quality experience.
It is precisely because of the firm recognition of the value of yak cashmere that Jiangnan Buyi is willing to deepen the industry with the spirit of being a leader in the industry, and eventually become an important force to promote the sustainable development of the yak cashmere industry.
Well-known designer clothing brands like Jiangnan Buyi, with their professional capabilities in supply chain management and brand marketing, can make efforts from the demand side, and work closely with upstream enterprises such as Xiujia and Aoyang to jointly formulate industrial development standards and promote the traceability of the whole chain from the source to the terminal.
Even when there is no precedent to follow, Jiangnan Buyi strictly follows the concept of sustainability to collect and process yak cashmere. The yak wool is carefully screened by local women and washed with natural snow mountain mineral water and environmentally friendly detergents. After that, through careful carding, drying and other fine processes, layer by layer checks, and finally produce high-quality loose fleece raw materials. Jiangnan Buyi has been exploring the use of this high-quality yak cashmere on the product side to develop new season clothing fabrics to bring consumers a new fashion experience.
Relying on its own brand influence, Jiangnan Buyi is also helping yak cashmere products to enhance their popularity, establish a good image, and promote consumer education; More importantly, brands can provide order-based procurement for the upstream based on their own procurement needs, effectively resolving the dilemma of imbalance between supply and demand in the industrial chain, so as to form a benign interaction between upstream and downstream and achieve a long-term balance between supply and demand.
Only when more brand enterprises like Jiangnan Buyi intervene and give full play to the initiative and cooperate with all parties in the industrial chain, can the yak cashmere industry truly enter the track of healthy and sustainable development.
For example, Zheng Dandan mentioned that one of the application challenges of yak cashmere in the textile and clothing industry is that most of the original fleece colors are naturally dark, and if it is dyed and other chemical treatments, it may cause performance loss. Therefore, in this regard, yarn raw material manufacturers need to do more research and development of blending processes, create more rich color combinations, expand the application prospects of yak cashmere, and provide consumers with diversified choices.
Jiangnan cloth promotes the revitalization of the yak cashmere industry
Yak has high requirements for the living environment, and the area that can be bred is relatively limited, and in recent years, yak is also facing the challenge of ecological environment deterioration. Due to the superposition of human and natural factors, the desertification of the grassland is becoming more and more serious, which affects the healthy growth of yak and the yield and quality of yak cashmere.
On the other hand, although yak wool can be naturally degraded and returned to the soil, if it is left to scatter in the wild, it will bring harm to the plateau ecological environment. The fluff that the yak sheds naturally in the spring can accumulate into hairballs on the pasture if it is not collected and used manually. Once these hairballs are eaten by livestock, they can easily cause intestinal obstruction and even be dying.
On the contrary, the orderly collection, processing and application of yak wool can not only avoid this ecological hidden danger, but also provide employment skills training and sustainable economic benefits for local herders. The benign development of the yak cashmere industry will help protect the natural environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and at the same time, it will also help maintain the lifestyle and cultural inheritance of traditional pastoral communities, and promote the healthy and circular development of the local economy and society.
Therefore, the rational use of yak wool is not only a green and environmentally friendly industrial choice, but also a win-win strategy to protect the plateau ecology and revitalize the pastoral economy. Sustainable development can only be achieved if there is a positive interaction between people and nature, tradition and modernity.
However, in order to truly promote the balance between supply and demand of the yak cashmere industry and achieve sustainable and healthy development, it is far from enough to rely on one alone, especially more brand enterprises need to participate in it, and realize the market potential of yak cashmere, so as to expand its awareness, revitalize the operation of the entire industrial chain, and make it more perfect and sound.
Recently, at the Global Sustainable Natural Fiber Conference, Jiangnan Buyi participated in the formulation of the world's first yak animal welfare standard "Farm Animal Welfare Requirements for Yak". As one of the parties to the agreement, Jiangnan Buyi will work with scientific research institutes, industry associations and other units to formulate this standard, aiming to improve the level of yak breeding technology and welfare, and promote the sustainable development and international competitiveness of related products.
At the launching ceremony of the group standard "Farm Animal Welfare Requirements for Yak", the Inner Mongolia Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Standardization Committee of the China Association for the Promotion of International Agricultural Cooperation expressed their expectations for the necessity of this standard. Although China accounts for more than 95% of the world's yak breeding and cashmere production, the economic value of yak cashmere is still not fully recognized due to the remoteness of the production area and its late start. With the growing popularity of sustainable development, China's yak cashmere industry urgently needs to establish animal welfare-related standards.
"Farm Animal Welfare Requirements for Yak" will be the world's first animal welfare standard for yaks, and it is also the 10th standard in the "Farm Animal Welfare Requirements" series of standards of the Animal Welfare International Cooperation Branch of the China Association for the Promotion of International Agricultural Cooperation (ICCAW).
The launch of the "Farm Animal Welfare Requirements for Yak" group standard will fill the gap of the lack of relevant standards in China, which is of great significance for improving breeding technology, protecting animal welfare, and enhancing the international competitiveness of the industry, and will help promote the development of the local yak cashmere industry in a more standardized and sustainable direction.
In addition to participating in the formulation of the "Farm Animal Welfare Requirements for Yak" group standard, Jiangnan Buyi also participated in the ecological restoration of grasslands in pastoral areas, provided animal welfare protection training for herders in pastoral areas, and promoted pasture certification to improve the sustainable livelihood capacity of herders. Through these practical actions, Jiangnan Buyi has injected new impetus into the sustainable development of the yak cashmere industry.
Sustainable development is the mission and responsibility of apparel enterprises
In recent years, the Chinese government has attached great importance to the construction of ecological civilization and environmental protection. At the opening ceremony of the 14th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Wetlands in November 2022, President Xi Jinping emphasized in his speech that China will successively establish a number of national parks covering 10% of its land area, including important wetland types such as Sanjiangyuan, Qinghai Lake and Ruoergai, and include nearly 11 million hectares of wetlands in the national park system, and implement major national wetland conservation planning and protection projects. This reflects the Chinese government's determination and actions in ecological and environmental protection.
In January 2024, the work report of the Sichuan Provincial Government proposed that it would actively seek national approval for the establishment of Zoige National Park. The region is actively creating a national park, and has completed institutional construction, protection and restoration, and is awaiting national approval.
It can be seen that from the central to the local level, the Chinese government is comprehensively deepening the reform of the ecological civilization system, intensifying environmental protection, and introducing environmental protection policies and putting them into action. Only by strengthening top-level design and improving relevant policies and regulations can we provide a solid institutional guarantee for ecological protection and promote the harmonious coexistence of man and nature.
If the yak cashmere industry is used as a window, Jiangnan Buyi is also constantly promoting the strengthening of the top-level design as an intermediary on the road of environmental protection and sustainability, and the promotion of the "Farm Animal Welfare Requirements Yak" group standard is one of the important symbols.
However, the sustainable development concept of Jiangnan Buyi is not only limited to a single category of yak cashmere, but has long been internalized into the daily operation of the enterprise.
Shouldering the responsibility and responsibility of a Chinese designer brand, Jiangnan Buyi has been creating sustainable fashion with characteristics. Zheng Dandan said that Jiangnan Buyi has made comprehensive efforts to promote the concept of environmental protection and sustainable development.
Since this year, Jiangnan Cloth has systematically counted the procurement data of major raw materials such as cashmere, predicted the demand in the next few years, provided suppliers with reliable procurement information, reduced unnecessary waste of resources, and strengthened the implementation and supervision of ESG standards in internal processes such as production and logistics.
At the same time, Jiangnan Buyi actively advocates the concept training of participating in the intermediate links for upstream suppliers and raw material manufacturers, and transmits it to the upstream layers. Through the organic combination of internal decision-making and external supply chain promotion, Jiangnan Cloth is committed to truly implementing the concept of environmental protection and sustainable development, and injecting lasting impetus into the sustainable development of the industry.
Moreover, as a Chinese designer brand fashion company, Jiangnan Buyi has been committed to inheriting and promoting traditional Chinese handicrafts and clothing culture. Launched in 2022, the five-year "Make the Most of Cloth" project aims to systematically explore, document and research traditional Chinese fabrics and crafts, and combine them with modern design and advanced manufacturing techniques to bring traditional handicrafts back to life in the contemporary era.
In the first year, with the theme of "staggered weaving", the project has visited traditional crafts such as Liuyang Xia Bu, Dali Dong Jin and Wuzhen bamboo weaving. The results of the project, which have been unveiled at Design Shanghai 2023, include 24 pioneering works created by 27 domestic and foreign designers based on traditional weaving techniques.
In addition to exploring and documenting, Jiangnan Buyi has also set up laboratories, publications, documentaries, and online platforms under the "Make the Most of Cloth" project to share research results and provide inspiration for fashion design practitioners.
At the same time, Jiangnan Buyi vigorously promotes sustainable fabrics and processes in product design and production, and strives to account for more than 30% of sustainable raw materials by 2025. The company also actively responded to the call of the industry and joined the "30·60 Carbon Neutrality Acceleration Plan" to promote the green and low-carbon transformation of the textile industry.
It is not difficult to see that through projects such as "Making the Best Use of Cloth", Jiangnan Buyi hopes to integrate the essence of traditional Chinese handicrafts into modern design, so that traditional culture will continue to bloom in the fashion industry. At the same time, we practice sustainable development, work together with the fashion industry to promote environmental protection, and contribute to the green future of the industry.