#Sustainability

2024-12-05

The Good Cashmere Conference 2025: Two-day event in Hamburg

The Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF) invites you to the annual conference of The Good Cashmere Standard® (GCS), which will be held on 25 and 26 March 2025 in the historic Speicherstadt warehouse district of the Hanseatic city of Hamburg. At this event, the independent sustainability standard will bring together international experts, fashion brands, companies, and scientists to discuss the latest developments in sustainable cashmere production.

Cashmere Goats in Inner Mongolia © 2024 Aid by Trade Foundation

The focus will be on animal welfare, due diligence in the supply chain, biodiversity, and the use of virtual reality. The latter offers the opportunity to experience a GCS model farm in Inner Mongolia.

Established in 2019 by the Aid by Trade Foundation, The Good Cashmere Standard® has always been committed to sustainable cashmere production and transparent traceability for casmere fibres in the textile supply chain. As one of the world’s leading standards for sustainable cashmere, its focus is on the welfare of over four million cashmere goats and on working conditions at more than 9,000 farms. Over 50 international brands, including H&M, Galeries Lafayette, J.Crew, or The White Company, rely on GCS-verified cashmere.

Aimed at representatives of textile companies, fashion brands, cashmere producers, standards organisations, and non-governmental organisations as well as members of the textile supply chain and other stakeholders, the two-day conference will offer valuable insight into current developments and trends in the cashmere industry. It will also present an opportunity to establish new contacts and gain deeper knowledge about sustainable cashmere production.

The conference will be opened by Prof. Dr Michael Otto, the founder of the Aid by Trade Foundation, on Tuesday, 25 March, and Wednesday, 26 March 2025, in Hamburg’s historic Speicherstadt warehouse district.

More information about the conference and the event programme is available on the conference website. Direct ticket bookings can also be made there.

https://gcsconference.aidbytrade.org/

The Good Cashmere Standard expands Animal Welfare Assessment on audited farms

With the Animal-related Animal Welfare Assessment (ARAWA), the Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF) conducts a pioneering project for the second consecutive year in 2025, parallel to the independent verifications of The Good Cashmere Standard® (GCS). ARAWA assessments provide a comprehensive overview of the health status of a herd on an audited farm, going beyond standard verification procedures. They are inherently complex, which still makes them a rarity in the standard sector, but offer support in identifying non-conformities and provide a holistic overview of the herd's well-being. Therefore, the Aid by Trade Foundation will continue this crucial project and even further expand it by 2027.

Aid by Trade Foundation reaches new milestones in supply chain transparency

The Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF) is reaching new milestones as it leads the way towards greater physical traceability for Cotton made in Africa® (CmiA) cotton. With around 700 suppliers and producers in a total of 25 countries, the Aid by Trade Foundation has reached a new record number of partners who can trace CmiA cotton from the product back to its origin. This is more than double the previous year’s figure.

Cashmere producers stress the importance of The Good Cashmere Standard®

At the invitation of the Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF), over 70 experts from the cashmere production and supply chain, as well as other specialists, met at the GCS Unit Meeting in Shanghai, China to discuss the progress and new objectives of The Good Cashmere Standard (GCS). The meeting focused on implementation and verification of the standard, important aspects of animal welfare and the importance of the standard in the global textile market.

Textile Exchange reports growth in certifications and industry engagement

Textile Exchange has published its 2025 Annual Report, highlighting continued growth in certified sites, industry participation and the development of its standards and membership structure. According to the report, more than 100,000 sites worldwide are now certified to Textile Exchange standards, more than three times the number recorded in 2020. Preliminary figures also indicate 12% year-on-year growth across the organization's current standards, including the Global Recycled Standard (GRS), Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) and the Responsible Animal Fiber standards.

Febratex 2026 to be the largest edition of the leading textile trade fair in the Americas with 10 exhibition halls

Febratex 2026 will be the largest edition in the history of the leading textile trade fair in the Americas. Dedicated to the textile and apparel manufacturing industries, the event will take place from August 18–21, 2026, in Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil, with a strong focus on technology, sustainability, and business generation.

Cotton Brazil Dialogues field trip brings international stakeholders closer to Brazil’s cotton production chain

How do you build trust across the global textile value chain? By opening the farm gates. This is the principle behind the Cotton Brazil Dialogues. At the end of July, the programme welcomed its first group of international participants for a five-day immersion into Brazilian cotton production, combining field visits with technical workshops to showcase the quality, sustainability, innovation and traceability behind one of the world’s leading cotton origins.

ITMA ASIA + CITME 2026 Shanghai showcases intelligent and sustainable manufacturing

From 20 to 24 November 2026, the textile machinery industry will gather in Shanghai for ITMA ASIA + CITME 2026, Asia’s leading business platform for textile machinery, to be held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai). The exhibition will occupy seven halls, with a total gross exhibition area of about 180,000 square metres. The exhibition has expanded by 10% over the last edition which reflects the continued industry interest in the region.