Yak wool: the conscious cashmere?

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 21:18:19 +0000

At the Source - Yaks, Nomads and the Himalayas from Khunu on Vimeo.

As the temperatures drop, you may be reaching for sweaters, jackets, and other garments made from some kind of wool... maybe lambswool, merino, or cashmere. If Julian Wilson and Aaron Pattillo have their way, yak wool may soon be a part of your cold weather fashion mix. Wilson and Pattillo founded Khunu, a company that makes apparel from this unique material, in 2009. The two discovered yak wool while trekking on the Tibetan plateau, and recognized an opportunity both to introduce this soft, warm fiber to a larger market, and to create a business that supports the impoverished people of Tibet and Mongolia (their main sourcing areas). Launched as a social enterprise, the company purchases the wool at fair trade prices, and returns 2 percent of sales to the communities that supply the raw material.

Tibet In Song

Sundance Channel — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 01:44:05 +0000

He was at Middlebury College, on a Fulbright scholarship, studying music and video production. In class he'd seen films about the musical traditions of many countries but never one about his own home, Tibet.