About

History

Alabaste Cashmere was started in 2012 by a British fashion designer Ava Edwards who travelled the globe to bring you the world’s best cashmere from Mongolia. 

Passionate about knitwear and natural fibres, Ava’s journey has led to many discussions about ethical and sustainable fashion practices.

Alabaste Cashmere pieces are designed in Cape Town and ethically manufactured and hand-finished by artisans in Mongolia. Our comprehensive collection of effortlessly chic pieces means garments to love and wear for decades to come. 

Philosophy

Our philosophy remains: authenticity; only pure cashmere from Mongolia with total transparency as to our source – we know exactly where our cashmere comes from. Impeccable quality with our pieces to last lifetime.  Ethical production meaning our artisans are paid well and can work in safe and clean conditions.

Style

We are emphatic about our quality and this has led to an extremely loyal fanbase over the years. What started as a side-business is blossoming into new collections and we remain as passionate to spread the love with Alabaste Cashmere.

Our collections are must-haves that you will use season after season and, we believe, you will find your perfect colours here, because not only do we love natural fibres and knitwear, we also love colour!

An easy-luxe aesthetic, our pieces can be dressed up or down all-year round. Good style never goes out of fashion.

The Concept

We believe in slow fashion, zero waste, made-to-order at a certified source. This is why we supply our alabaste cashmere items directly to the consumer. Read more about the three simple steps of how to view, order and take delivery of our coveted future-proof cashmere to last you a lifetime.

We also supply stylists and select wholesalers. Find more information here.

The Source

Almost all of the world’s cashmere fibre originates from the Kashmir region (China, India and Mongolia) and then is shipped to be dyed, spun and knitted in locations across the globe.

EXCEPT OURS. Our factory, along with our dedicated cashmere experts, are based in Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, the source of the world’s finest cashmere. It’s due to the extreme cold in the region’s highlands that the goats grow lengthy coats to protect them from the elements. That means, the highest quality cashmere available thanks to coveted long fibres that are spun into superior Mongolian yarn.

Yielding the yarn through hand-combing the goats is a safe and animal-friendly practice. Sustainably sourced by the country’s nomadic herds-people, we ensure that our cashmere is hand-combed from the goats by trained herders only to the safeguard them, as well as those that derive their livelihood from this process.

And, very importantly the goats are only combed in Spring when the weather is warmer and their coats are naturally ready to shed. The entire process happens in one region with the final product shipped to wherever it’s end-destination may be, meaning it has a low carbon footprint. 

Watch this video to find out more about Mongolian cashmere.

Ava Edwards

I am a British 40 year old mother of two living in Cape Town. I’ve worked in fashion buying for many years before I decided to take my side-project Alabaste Cashmere full-time. My journey has made me reflective of mass-consumption and I am now musing all things organic and responsible, living a less cluttered life: buy less and buy well.

Read more about my aspirations and inspirations here.

Savour

Our cashmere is expertly knitted and hand-finished by our 150 highly-talented and skilled Mongolian artisans into beautifully modern garments for you to treasure – available undyed as nature intended or dyed, using non-toxic chemicals. Manufactured using a mixture of traditional techniques developed and perfected in Scotland, highly modern machinery from Japan, Germany and the UK works in harmony with age-old traditional methods to create superb garments. We aim to support this masterful industry and offer customers a product with integrity, value and quality.

Alabaste Cashmere are the go-to pieces that will last you a lifetime.  We want to spread the love one cashmere piece at a time and offer you the very best value and craftsmanship available. These are not throwaway pieces but items to cherish, and so our philosophy is to look after what you adore to wear. Luxe never looked or felt so good.