The Stevensons have been working with natural fibres for well over a century. It started with Herbert Stevenson who ran his own woollen mill producing fine Scottish Tweeds on the outskirts of Edinburgh.
By the time Drummond joined the team, their family brand of Macnab Tweeds was sold throughout the US, Europe and Asia. Peter then added cashmere to the mix.
In the past, Scottish cashmere was the finest in the world. However, as labour costs rose in the UK, it started to become too expensive to produce and unable to compete with the meteoric rise of China.
Fast forward 100 years, and most of the world’s top-grade cashmere now comes from the blustery plains of Inner Mongolia where the bitter winter cold helps the goats to grow a fine inner coat to keep them warm: temperatures drop as low as minus 40 degrees celsius in the depths of December.
And, it is this fine inner coat which is used to make the most delicious cashmere jumpers. However, did you know that one goat only produces enough yarn to make one baby-sized sweater a year? And, that’s why a good quality cashmere pullover can be rather pricey.
Peter first went up to Inner Mongolia over 40 years ago, and Macnab Drummond has been working with the same cashmere partners up there ever since. What started out as a small factory selling its cashmere on a wheelbarrow has now evolved into a multi-billion dollar conglomerate which now makes up to 5 million pieces of cashmere a year.
Its state-of-the-art cashmere factory employs the latest Italian spinning techniques, offering a fine Italian finish on par with Loro Piana.
And, it makes the world’s finest cashmere products without hurting the goats or damaging the environment. In fact, it is the world’s first green factory in the textile sector. And, it is the first company in China to be awarded The Good Cashmere Standard (GCS) in China by the Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF).
A pioneer in the protection of the Inner Mongolian grasslands, it has a long history of looking after both the goats and their farmers, setting the stage for its partnership with the AbTF.
Today, it is a major supplier of GCS products. And, all the cashmere that it sources, whether it is of Good Cashmere Standard or not, comes from farms which are both sustainable and ethical.
After all, there is no Planet B and surely our children and the earth which they will inherit deserve only the best!
And, speaking of children, we also have our very own cashmere label for kids: Mika & Milo. Named after Peter Stevenson’s two grandchildren, Mika & Milo is a multi-award-winning cashmere offering for kids aged 0-3M up to 8 years old.
