Mongolia — Nomadic Life and the Animals Behind the Wool

I went to Mongolia to do styling for a catalogue of a German fashion brand — and stayed on after the job was done to travel and see the landscape. What I found was something that has stayed with me. The nomadic families I spent time with live alongside their animals — cashmere goats, sheep, horses — in a way that is completely integrated. The animals are family, and also livelihood. Wool and meat are how a family survives. It is a hard life, always busy, always tied to the needs of the herd and the season.

Seeing hundreds of cashmere goats up close changed the way I think about the material. Cashmere is not a luxury abstraction — it is the result of a specific animal, a specific climate, and people who have built their entire lives around caring for both. The vast landscape, the stillness, the directness of that life — unforgettable.

I also met the owner of a knitting company producing sweaters from yak, cashmere, camel and sheep yarn. I ordered camel wool samples for the shop. Sometimes the best sourcing happens when you stay a little longer than planned.