Gobi Cashmere: Do we know all the Secrets about the Royal Fiber?

My dear fashionistas, I hope you are doing great and ready for a new fashion adventure this Friday. In the previous days, I wondered in which direction my blog was going and whether my content was useful for my readers. I asked a question on Instagram and many of you answered that they learned many tips, tricks and advises on clothing maintenance, skin care and hygiene, which I was extremely glad to hear such answers.

Today, I decided to share with you some of the many facts about cashmere, the royal fiber that the GOBI Cashmere company makes with a lot of dedication and love in the heart of Asia – Mongolia. If you want to remember some details from the previous fashion story about the GOBI Cashmere brand, visit this link.

Did you know that Mongolia is the 19th largest country in the world in terms of area with 21 provinces. Each of them has its own characteristics in terms of natural beauty, which has a great impact on goats, and thus on the quality of cashmere. Based on decades of experience, GOBI Cashmere procures its cashmere directly from the 7 provinces where this royal fiber is the best.

After the goats are combed during the hair change in the spring, this valuable royal fiber GOBI Cashmere brand is bought directly from shepherd families. Direct purchase, without intermediaries, enables more favorable prices for customers, guarantees good quality and ethical responsibility as well.

Since the direct purchase of cashmere affects the lower price of the final GOBI Cashmere products, it is also important to find out how the highest quality cashmere products are made in Mongolia. From “raw cashmere” to the final product on the shelf in the store, there is a long way to go, but the whole process takes place in one place – in the GOBI Cashmere factory in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia.

The process takes place in 16 stages of processing and production. In each of the stages, the greatest attention is paid to details in order to obtain cashmere products that meet all the requirements and needs of customers. GOBI Cashmere strives to combine interesting and modern design with advanced technology and thus create innovative knitwear that can be worn all year round.

What are the 16 processes that take place in the GOBI Cashmere factory so that we can enjoy the softness of the finest cashmere items? I will try to briefly describe the production process.

Conceptual and creative product design development – The design development process refers to all knitted and woven products that need to be sewn. Before making a cashmere garment, it first exists in the imagination of the creative team, after which sketches are drawn. When the technical sketch is ready, the first samples can be made. Depending on the design, special instructions are developed to help program the production system in which the factory sample is made for mass production. After that, the factory sample is subjected to precise testing and adjustment of production. Production of the design begins only when the conceptual and factory sample fit completely. A special code is added to the sample, the production price is calculated and a production time frame is created.

Sorting – At the beginning of the production process, cashmere is sorted. The raw material is delivered directly from the nomads in the steppes to the GOBI Cashmere factory, where each fiber is sorted into 19 categories according to color and origin, and it is important to note that all this is done manually. You can never be too precise and for that reason there is a quality control that assesses the strength and condition of each thread. The sorted goods are then weighed, packed and stored. It is now ready for the next step in the production process.

Rubbing (fiber screening) – At this stage, more happens than just washing and purifying the fibers. Before and after each production process, there is a special quality control, then the fibers come to a large machine, where they go through a special washing procedure depending on their micro-consistency, length and color of the fibers. After washing, the fibers are dried and tested before being sent to the next production step on the production line.

Fiber Combing – Washed and dried raw cashmere is packaged for special fiber combing. Raw cashmere is placed in a large comb with sharp combs. Soft combs are separated from coarser combs. The result of this production process is an airy cashmere that resembles a cloud that is so soft that you just want to touch it and take it home. The obtained fibers are carefully collected and a manual quality check is performed before the next step – dyeing and mixing the fibers. Due to the use of large machines, the whole process is specially monitored for the safety of workers.

Dyeing and bleaching of fibers – In the GOBI Cashmere factory, an average of about 1800 colors are created. They all range from very faint shades to more vibrant, strong colors to cover a wide range of colors. The dyeing and bleaching process begins when the combed cashmere is transferred through a tube into a deep cylindrical basket, from where it is poured into a larger fiber dyeing machine. In accordance with health and safety standards for customers and workers, only approved Swiss-made paints are used. To obtain the desired color, an automatic color recognition system is used so that color differences within the spectrum can be recognized. After dyeing, cashmere is dried by a special method using radio frequencies. Radio wave drying is efficient and practical due to its deep penetration and moisture balance. By heating the fibers from the inside, a hot and dry outer layer is avoided and in that way further processing of cashmere is facilitated.

Fiber mixing – To get the perfect shade and the best fiber blend. During this process, different types of fibers are mixed and also different colors of the same fibers are mixed to obtain the appropriate color. All defects of crude fiber are opened and disassembled according to a special recipe from the company GOBI. They are then coated with finely atomized substances to protect the fibers from cracking in the next phase of the mixing process. This is known as carding. The carding machine is equipped with rows of sharp combs to soften the fibers and comb them into a single layer removing the remaining imperfections and all impurities.

Woolen “Spiders” Patterns (thread making) – The process by which yarn is made for weaving and knitting. The thickness of the yarn must be made of solid threads. Combed raw cashmere is usually stretched after the mixing and carding phase, a process known as wool spinning. The stretching and twisting of the fibers is done by a machine that takes up a lot of air in the yarn, making it very light and elastic. During this procedure, each strand is examined for possible defects and cracks that may occur. Wrapped with a machine on combs, the strands are then ready to be twisted into threads and prepared for the knitting process.

Spinning is a process where the fibers are combed and straightened in parallel. Unlike “wool spinning”, cashmere twisting occurs later in “anchor spinning”. The air is expelled during twisting and the result is a smooth, heavy and even yarn. With each passage through the spinning machine, the fibers become thinner, which enables more precise execution of seams and facilitates the knitting process.

Knitting is a process performed with the help of the Japanese modern knitting machine WHOLEGARMENT. As soon as the design process is completed and the patterns are made, the appropriate yarn is assembled in the knitting factory and the design is coded in the knitting machine. Usually the front and back of garments and sleeves to be sewn. With WHOLEGARMENT machines, knitwear can be made in one piece, which saves a lot of time and work. The collars are still sewn by hand.

Finishing process – Knitwear at this time has not yet taken the shape expected. It is necessary to make the material and fibers softer and smoother. This takes place in a “finishing process” that gives the final product softness and smoothness. The product is measured and then the steps of dipping, rinsing, washing, drying, sorting and shaping are repeated. Then accessories such as buttons, buttons, labels, stickers with size information and brand names are added.

Weaving is another technique used in cashmere processing. The products obtained with this technique are most often scarves, blankets and other fashion accessories. Threads from the spinning mill are sent to weaving, where they are knitted and machine-woven. Quality control ensures that designs meet high standards before products are finally “hand-processed”.

Hand weaving process – After the loom, the product is not finished yet. In the phase of hand weaving, brushing and hemming take place, where scarves and blankets are covered with fringes. The products are then washed, washed and dried until a soft and smooth woven product is obtained.

Final finishing of the fabric – the last phase before the delivery of the product takes place through the process of finishing the fabric. It’s all about the final details of soaking, drying and jogging, weighing, labeling and smoothing before the product is ready and ready for delivery.

Fabric printing process – Printing scarves play a major role in this process. Exciting and colorful designs are coded into machines, which then print wonderful patterns on the fabric. In this process, the quality is also measured and of course checked.

Sewing process – In this process, cashmere coats and jackets are sewn. Tailoring is the most important step, followed by sewing the cuff, collar, edges, lining, cuffs and sleeves, which, as well as hemming, are done individually. After each phase, quality control is performed before the product is labeled and packaged for delivery.

Making embroidery – The finished cashmere product is stabilized during the embroidery process. A transparent stabilizer is placed on top of the garment to ensure that the threads that make up the design remain on the surface. After the machine embroidery procedure, the stabilizer is removed and a beautiful, unique embroidery can be seen.

These are briefly described all 16 manufacturing processes in the company GOBI Cashmere, I believe you have now created a certain image in your head that all the processes go through cashmere from entering the factory as fiber to the final product on store shelves.

Cashmere is much more than a soft and warm material from which quality and luxurious clothes are made every day. It is a depiction of a way of life, a long tradition that has developed from generation to generation. GOBI Cashmere is making efforts to protect Mongolian nomads and their goat herds by introducing the ability to track the cashmere fibers used to make GOBI Cashmere fashion pieces.

This option gives you the assurance that you have become the owner of the softest and finest piece that was made with a lot of love by the experts of the GOBI Cashmere team in Mongolia.

What does the process of traceability GOBI Cashmere mean? The GOBI Cashmere tracebility process means that every production step will be recorded from start to finish and all processes will be preserved. In order to be able to document the origin of each strand of cashmere fiber, many records need to be made. GOBI Cashmere presents its new project on the possibility of tracking cashmere fibers.

This project will provide an opportunity for all customers to find out where the cashmere from which their garment is made in Mongolia comes from. Because cashmere is indeed a sustainable source of raw materials, each product received a monitoring rating based on several factors. In one of the following posts, I believe that this revolutionary project will mark a new era in the fashion industry.

I am sure you are interested in learning more about this unusual and traditional brand from Mongolia so you can find all the information on their official social media channels on their Facebook page and official Instagram profile.

Today’s elegant outfit was completed by a watch from the Akylon collection of the art Swiss brand MUSE, which you had the opportunity to meet in one of the previous posts.

The case is made of 100% titanium in the color of rose gold, while the dial is made of aventurine, a type of quartz that is characterized by its transparency and the presence of mineral impurities in the form of platinum that give it a shimmering or shining effect called aventurescence.

My watch is adorned with an Elaphe bracelet in a bronze brown-gold color. The bracelet is made of Elaphe water snake skin, which does not belong to the protected species. For all additional information and news about MUSE watches, you can follow them on their official Facebook page and Instagram profile.

MUSE watches are for all art lovers with refined taste and a sense of aesthetics. The basic idea of the founders of the MUSE brand was to re-examine and present the representation of time through an artistic prism. Mr. Robert and Mr. Leuba replaced the traditional hands, so the hours, minutes and seconds are shown in special art forms inspired by elements of nature and architecture.

MUSE dials are a moving art, time passes and different formations and shapes are made. Watches have become real small pieces of art today, only technology and inspiration have made it possible to enjoy the beauty of shapes that change on the MUSE dial every minute.

The time on all MUSE watches is displayed in an unusual way: The disk closest to the sapphire crystal represents seconds, the middle disk is used to display minutes, while the disk closest to the dial is used to display hours. The largest geometric shapes are always for displaying the change of hours, to the smallest for displaying minutes.

The MUSE brand has artistic limited watches that are classified into 6 special collections: Akylon, Kagura, Stella, Stella-S, Tanoura and Kyrian.

Since the whole outfit was in a certain classic tone, my friends from Mytheresa decided to please me with unusual Christian Louboutin unusual Louis Orlato sneakers with spikes that complemented this outfit in an unusual way.

Of course, burgundy color goes great with my pastel colors in the wardrobe, and these unusual spikes further accentuated this fashion combination.

OUTFIT

Coat: GOBI

Turtleneck: GOBI

Watch: MUSE Switzerland

Jogging Trousers: GOBI

Sneakers: Christian Louboutin via Mytheresa

My dear fashionistas, we have reached the end of this second special post where we discovered one incredible knitwear cashmere brand from Mongolia! How did you like my outfit today? Have you found some inspiration for some of yours great spring outfit in burgundy color?

I really tried to prepare today’s post with a lot of love and I hope you will like it! See you in a couple of days with some new interesting story!

I advise you from the bottom of my heart to listen to my advice due to the current unfavorable health situation in almost all European and countries around the world. If you need to go out into the fresh air, take a walk and clear your mind, feel free to do so, but do not go to places where there are a lot of people and encourage crowding.

The process of vaccinating the population in Germany has begun and I believe that the situation will soon improve and that our lives will return to normal soon!

I understand that people need to go out into the fresh air for physical activity and mental health, but you can do that by simple walking the city every day, on low-traffic pedestrian streets. Of course, you can walk in parks and other types of green areas or promenades along rivers, but keep the prescribed physical distance, use disinfectants and please wear a mask.

If you have a question, comment, suggestion or message for me, you can write me down in the comments. Of course, as always you can contact me via mail or social media channels, which you can find on the CONTACT ME page. Stay tuned!

With love from Berlin,
Mr.M

This post is sponsored by GOBI Cashmere, MUSE Switzerland SA, Mytheresa (Christian Louboutin) brands and represents my personal and honest review of their products.