UPW: Responsible Sourcing and Production of Animal Fibres

UPW: Responsible Sourcing and Production of Animal Fibres

Becca Rawlings Wednesday, 8 July 2020

At 36 years old, UPW is the largest woollen spinner in the world, supplying customers across the globe with high quality ethically-sourced and responsibly-produced yarns for knitwear. They have established themselves as a world-renowned spinner who does not compromise on its principles, while also creating yarns that have a broad appeal to a wide range of customers and markets.

They create design-led collections twice a year with sustainability at their core, with an emphasis as a company on natural fibres and sustainable synthetic fibres. For AW21, they are releasing their "eco" series, incorporating further the elements of traceability, animal welfare and production innovations that they have become adhered for.

In this lesson, UPW's Marketing Executive for the UK, Becca Rawlings takes us through the key noble animal fibres in UPW's collection, along with some of the organisations they've joined and partnered with, showing how they take an active approach to improving standards in the industry. She covers wool, cashmere, yak and mohair, and the key elements that UPW takes into account when sourcing and spinning these fibres.


In this Technical Tutorial you'll learn:

  • About UPW as the world's leading and largest wool spinner
  • What to ask you spinner about when sourcing responsible cashmere fibre
  • Animal welfare, land management and traceability concerns for cashmere
  • Certifications and standards for cashmere: SFA, ICCAW, Good Cashmere
  • The Five Freedoms of Animal Welfare
  • Socio-economic benefits for harvesting yak fibre
  • Certifications and standards for wool: RWS, Woolmark, RMS
  • How UPW uses organic cotton
  • Responsible practices and collaborations for dyeing wool yarn
  • Sustainable synthetics for performance knitwear

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