FTC Cashmere
Cashmere is renowned for being one of the softest, most luxurious, and most durable fibers in the world, but its quality comes at a premium cost. Haelixa’s solution is used to mark and trace cashmere to provide forensic proof of its origin and to support claims related to animal welfare, social and environmental standards, and quality.
FTC is a Swiss cashmere brand specializing in high-quality, cashmere knits in the premium segment. Despite being 100% vertically integrated from the farm level (owning approximately 30000 cashmere goats), FTC Cashmere has relied on the Haelixa technology since 2020. The benefit is that Haelixa acts as an independent third-party partner, providing forensic proof of origin and authenticity which reassures the consumer.
Project Scope
The raw cashmere is marked at the source, in China, with a DNA marker that is specifically developed for FTC’s cashmere. After marking, the cashmere retains its original quality and properties and is processed per usual. Besides marking cashmere, FTC also labels their organic cotton and Seacell, each with a unique DNA. The three different DNAs can be then identified in the various blends at the finished garment level.
The collections carry the “Marked & Traced by Haelixa” ingredient label on the care label and hang tag to communicate traceability to the end consumer. The marked & traced FTC collections are being sold in shops and retail stores across Europe (e.g. Jelmoli and Rinascente) and online (e.g. Zalando).
Among the various objectives achieved together, the collaboration has led to the marked & traced by Haelixa CALIDA x FTC Cashmere Wellbeing collection, which has further grown their visibility and customer base.
“Trade and consumers demand more and more provenance proof of products. Haelixa helps us to bring authentic transparency in our own value chain.”
Adrian Mathias Knezovic
Member of the Executive Board FTC Cashmere
Supply chain steps
Harvesting
Shaanxi, China
Marking
Hebei Province, China
Combing & Carding
Hebei Province, China
Spinning & Knitting
Hebei Province, China
Retail
EU and CH
