BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE ENGAGE CASHMERE COLLECTION

While looking for new knitting processes and new yarn combinations for our cashmere collection engage, I came across a very special knitting factory in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. Now I wanted to see for myself the new opportunities that were available to me, and I travelled to Nepal.

How is a cashmere jumper or jacket knitted with a hand-knitting machine?
How are the sleeves knitted on without being sewn in?
What production stations does a jumper go through until it is finished?
What are the possibilities of combining different yarns of cotton, silk and cashmere?

EVERY PIECE IS MADE HERE IN MANY INDIVIDUAL STEPS WITH LOVE

The long-standing employees know how to carefully knit the individual parts of a jumper with hand-knitting machines. The family business has been training its own employees for decades and provides them with a high level of protection. Child labour has also been forbidden from the beginning, as a large sign at the entrance to the factory indicates.

Once the individual parts of the jumper have been knitted, they are joined together on another special machine. That means they are knitted stitch by stitch and that is exactly what is special, they are not sewn. This creates a high elasticity with simultaneous tear resistance without the addition of synthetic fibres. Ensuring this handwork also means that every beginning and end of a knitted seam is sewn and edged by hand.

ENGAGE - PURE FIBRES GENTLY PROCESSED

Here, and this is crucial for the cashmere collection of engage only pure natural materials are used. Only the highest quality cashmere from Outer Mongolia is processed, clearly setting it apart from cheaper productions from China.

The cashmere from engage is made of the highest quality cashmere.

The cashmere piece is then washed with care and refined by rinsing. The colours of the yarns are also of organic origin. So it was a great pleasure for me to design our joint new collection and to experience the creation of the jumpers and cardigans myself. An incipient collaboration with the head of the company in Kathmandu has developed into an inspiring friendship with the whole family.