Glossary

Animal Welfare

An animal welfare policy should address the rights of animals, but also the commitment of a company to take the necessary steps to ensure these rights. The commitments for specific fibers and materials can then be made separately.

Baby Cashmere

Baby cashmere is an extremely rare and precious material obtained exclusively from the underfur of young cashmere goats aged between five and eight months. Thus, it is a rare and very special material.

Biodegradable

Has the potential to be broken down with the use of organisms.

Cashmere

This material is 100% cashmere. In our case, we use only the best of the raw material from our own cashmere goat farms.

Carbon Neutral

Being climate neutral means that carbon emissions along the value chain up to the purchase of the styles have been monetarily compensated. To do this, you first need an exact understanding of your entire value chain's emissions. We do this with our partner ClimatePartner.

Carding

Carding is a mechanical process in which the fibers are disentangled, cleaned and combed several times, and the fibers that are too short are sorted out. This produces a continuous sliver of fibers suitable for further processing into yarn.

Circularity

The circular economy, or circularity is an economic model which takes the three R's into account: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Climate Neutral

Climate neutral refers to the emission and mitigation of all greenhouse gases – not just carbon (compared to carbon neutral). This includes analyzing and understanding the ecological footprint in order to reduce it step by step.

ClimatePartner

Our partner ClimatePartner helps us measure our carbon footprint and improve our climate actions strategy.

Carbon Dioxide (CO₂)

A gas that has become an environmental concern. CO₂ does not directly impair human health, but is a “greenhouse gas” that traps the earth’s heat and contributes to the potential for global warming.

Dyeing (Flake Dyeing)

The dyeing process after carding, which ensures highest dyeing-quality and bright colors.

Fair Trade

Fair trade is an approach with a set of standards. For farmers and workers, Fair trade means workers' rights, safer working conditions and fairer pay. For shoppers it means fair and ethically produced products.

Farmer Protection Program

FTC® has signed an exclusive contract with the local government and the farmers for the purchase of the cashmere raw material at market prices plus a premium. The project, which is probably unique in the world in this form, was launched in August 2008.

Footprint

Your footprint, being corporate, carbon or other, relates to the impact an organization has on the environment.

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)

FSC certification ensures that products come from responsibly managed forests that provide environmental, social and economic benefits.

Haelixa

Our partner Haelixa enables a physical proof of origin of our products. The ingredient label “Marked and Traced by Haelixa” allows customers to extract the liquid DNA that has been sprayed unto the raw material and therefore see the material origin of their FTC® styles.

Knitting

Yarn intertwined with knitting needles or knitting machines to form a kind of braid of stitches.

MADE IN GREEN by OEKO-TEX®

The MADE IN GREEN by OEKO-TEX® label is an all-encompassing sustainability label making the invisible efforts of sustainable procedures and companies visible.

Natural Yarn

This is the undyed and unbleached cashmere yarn. We use this for some finished styles, meaning the garment is 100% natural.

Organic

Organic products refers to naturally cultivated materials without the use of any synthetic agricultural chemicals such as fertilisers or pesticides or transgenic technology.

Organic Cotton Cashmere

Soft, sustainably sourced and processed cashmere from the company's own cashmere goat farm is combined here with organic cotton that is GOTS certified. Here, the ratio is 30% Cashmere and 70% Organic Cotton.

SEACELL

SEACELL is a Lyocell fiber with brown algae, which has naturally soothing and healing effects on the skin. It is 100% biodegradable and compostable. We blend together SeaCell and Cashmere for a unique feel.

Spinning

The process of making yarn from the cashmere fibers.

Standard 100 by Oeko-Tex

STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® certified products have been tested for harmful substances to protect your health. Check it out here.

Traceability

Traceability is the ability to trace all processes from procurement of raw materials to production, consumption and disposal to clarify when and where the product was produced by whom. It creates value and reduces risk.

Transparency

This means to operate in ways that it is easy for others to see what actions are performed. Transparency means openness, communication and accountability.

Upcycling

The act of taking something no longer of value and creating a new and more valuable product. This is for example what we do with UpKnit; taking leftover yarn, making it a unique thread and a new product.

UpKnit

Our knit-innovation UpKnit is FTC®'s own developed technique to seamlessly join the threads of the leftover yarns. This way, we utilise all our raw material in a unique way.

Value Chain (Supply Chain)

A value chain, or supply chain, is a series of consecutive steps that go into the creation of a finished product, from its initial extraction, processing and design to its arrival at a customer's door.

Vertically Integrated Supply Chain

This is a way of running your business, in which the company is in charge of several steps along the vertical supply chain, without any intermediaries. For us, this means the steps from caring for our goats, growing their fodder, managing the fabric creation to the design and distribution.

Washing & Steaming

One of the most important steps in the making of cashmere. Washing in soft water using gentle detergents to achieve that special, soft feel. The garments are then dried in dryers and ironed on wooden frames for a gentle effect.

Zero-Waste

To conserve resources and minimise pollution.