Behind Every Cashmere Jumper: Life at –40°C on Mongolia’s Frontline of Luxury

by Meg Genden

Founder, Oxford Meadow Cashmere

Cashmere is sold to the world as softness, warmth, and quiet luxury. The story usually begins in a boutique — folded neatly, priced precisely, and detached from the conditions that made it possible.

But cashmere’s true origin lies far from shop floors and fashion capitals. It begins on the Mongolian steppe, in a country between Russia and China, distinct from China’s Inner Mongolia, that supplies nearly 40 per cent of the world’s raw cashmere (EBRC, 2023), and where winter temperatures regularly fall to –40°C. Here, cashmere is not an abstract luxury material. It is a product of survival — for animals, for families, and for an economy shaped by climate.

I was born and raised in Mongolia. I know these winters not from reports or brief summer visits, but from lived experience. From nights broken every hour to check livestock; from families who measure risk not in profit margins, but in whether our herds will survive until spring.

Behind every cashmere jumper is a story that begins here.

 

Winter Is Not a Season — It Is a System

In Mongolia, winter is not endured; it is managed.

During dzud winters — extreme Mongolian weather events marked by heavy snow, ice, and lethal cold — heavy snow and ice prevent animals from grazing, while temperatures remain below –40°C for weeks at a time. Survival depends on constant human intervention. Someone must wake every hour, leave the warmth of the ger, the traditional Mongolian felt dwelling, break ice, guide weakened goats, or shield animals from wind.

One missed night can mean the loss of an entire herd.

This is not exceptional hardship. It is routine life for herder families whose work underpins a global luxury industry — yet remains largely invisible to it. 

 

Why Extreme Cold Creates Exceptional Cashmere

The same winters that push human endurance to its limits are also what give Mongolian cashmere its globally recognised quality.

Cashmere goats develop their fine undercoat as a biological response to prolonged extreme cold. Scientific studies on fibre formation indicate that prolonged extreme cold stimulate the growth of denser secondary follicles, producing fibres that are:

·       finer in micron count

·       denser in structure

·       significantly more insulating

In regions with milder or shorter winters, goats simply do not require this level of natural protection. The fibre is coarser, lighter, and less thermally efficient.

In Mongolia, quality is not engineered. Winter does the work — without chemicals, artificial breeding, or industrial shortcuts.

 

Cashmere Is Grown, Not Manufactured

Unlike synthetic fibres, cashmere cannot be scaled at will.

It is hand-combed, not shorn, during the brief spring moulting season. This method removes only the soft undercoat, protecting the animal’s health and preserving fibre quality. It requires time, experience, and an intimate understanding of animal behaviour.

Each goat produces just 150–300 grams of usable cashmere per year. This limited yield is not inefficiency — it is the natural outcome of ethical animal care, biological limits, and climatic reality.

For herder families, cashmere is not a luxury good. It is their primary source of income — earned through year-round labour that begins long before fibre reaches a factory, let alone a fashion label.

 

Stewardship, Not Extraction

Traditional Mongolian herding is based on balance. Goats are not treated as production units, but as long-term assets whose health determines a family’s future.

This stewardship model places natural limits on production. Climate, pasture health, and animal wellbeing define how much fibre can be harvested in any given year. Unlike industrial systems, scale is restrained by nature itself.

In an industry increasingly driven by speed and volume, Mongolian cashmere represents a fundamentally different logic — one where restraint, care, and continuity come before growth.

 

Rethinking the Cost of Cashmere

Once the realities of Mongolia’s winters and labour are understood, cashmere becomes difficult to describe as “expensive” in simplistic terms.

The price of a cashmere jumper reflects not branding mystique, but:

• biological scarcity
• extreme climatic conditions
• skilled, manual labour
• ethical animal care

The real question is not why cashmere costs what it does — but whether the people at the very beginning of the supply chain are recognised accordingly.

 

The Invisible Frontline of Sustainable Fashion

For decades, Mongolian herders have remained at the margins of the global fashion narrative, despite carrying out its most demanding and essential work.

In knitwear, herders are not a background detail. They are the first and most critical link in the supply chain. Without them, there is no fibre and no garment, to brand or market.

For a long time, many Mongolians assumed this story would eventually be told by global media or major fashion houses. That visibility would arrive naturally. It has not.

 

What Conscious Luxury Really Means

Choosing natural fibres such as cashmere, wool, and yak is not merely a style decision. It is a choice to value ethical labour, cultural knowledge, environmental responsibility, and human dignity — principles that cannot be replicated by speed or scale.

Behind every cashmere garment is a story shaped by endurance, care, and resilience. Recognising that story is not sentimentality. It is respect.

And respect, ultimately, is what defines true luxury.

I believe a growing global audience is ready for these truths — consumers who care not only about how something looks, but how it is made, and whose lives it sustains. For them, I will continue to write — sharing the realities behind Mongolian natural fibres, and the people who make them possible.

There is a Mongolian proverb: “Эзэн хичээвэл заяа хичээнэ” — If you make the effort yourself, even fate will support you.

Because these stories deserve more than admiration.

We deserve visibility — and respect.

 

Reference:

1.     European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) (2023) EBRD supports sustainable cashmere production in Mongolia. London: EBRD. Available at: https://www.ebrd.com/home/news-and-events/news/2023/ebrd-supports-sustainable-cashmere-production-in-mongolia.html#