Asket: take care of your merino’s sweater
From Sweden, the menswear brand uses 100% traceable Merino Wool
Founded 2015 in Stockholm by August Bard Bringéus and Jakob Dworsky, ASKET is an independent online-only menswear brand on a mission to end overconsumption and restore value in apparel. Replacing the mindless churn of seasonal collections with a single permanent collection of meaningful essentials built on full transparency and constant improvement, ASKET is reducing wardrobes to the pieces we actually need and helping us care for them longer.
ASKET Unravels the Thread with 100% Traceable Merino Wool
In an effort to reach Full Traceability, ASKET has uncovered its entire Merino Wool supply chain, demonstrating a whole new way of operating in the fashion industry – and making way for accountability from sheep to sweater.
STOCKHOLM 2nd October, 2019 – ASKET reaches a new milestone in releasing its 100% traceable Merino Wool lineup, unraveling every aspect from farm to finished garment. Born from the desire to bring desperately needed transparency to the fashion supply chain, ASKET has worked to establish a direct relationship with a raw material supplier, and then trace the wool from source, along the entire production process. With it, ASKET bring full traceability across their existing Merino Wool garments — the Sweater, the Polo and the Beanies — and mark the launch of two new wardrobe essentials to their permanent collection: the Roll Neck and the Zip Cardigan.
The game-changing move to achieve 100% traceability is part of ASKET’s long-term goal to set a new business standard for the entire fashion industry — but the feat was only made possible thanks to extensive work and investment by the young team. The trouble in tracing raw materials is that they are commonly mixed and sold together at auctions so that suppliers can meet quantity demands, meaning the true material source is erased early in the supply chain. To overcome this, the start-up purchased wool directly from one farm, investing 20% of their previous year’s revenue to obtain 4,3 tons of wool from the Smith Family Farm in Australia – enough for an Italian spinner to set up a dedicated production line from raw wool to finished yarn for them.
“As a young and independent brand, reaching full traceability all the way to the sheep has been challenging — but also incredibly rewarding. If we can achieve this, there’s no limit to what the larger industry forces can do to provide people with greater transparency, but more importantly, start to hold themselves accountable for the impact of global supply chains,” says August Bard-Bringéus, Co-founder and CEO at ASKET. “It proves even small companies can make enormous strides.”
Over the past 18 months, ASKET has worked diligently to identify a farm that promised quality wool in the right quantities and also set high standards in both animal welfare and land management. That search took them to Omeo, Victoria, Australia, where 5000 sheep are kept on a 4000 acres property, set in the green hills and river flats along the Cobungra River. There, weather conditions vary between hot, cold, wet and windy, making for the perfect quality merino wool. After it is shorn, the wool is combed in Czech Republic, goes to Poland to be spun, before heading to Italy — where it is dyed in Biella and knitted in Magione. The linking and final touches are made in Italian-run facilities in Tunisia.
In April 2018, ASKET launched its Full Traceability Standard and set out on an ambitious journey to break down every garment into its raw components, trace them back to their origin, and put that information onto the labels of each piece of clothing. One and half years after, the fully traceable Merino lineup brings ASKETs permanent collection to a total traceability of 80%. “The garments in our Merino Wool lineup will no doubt look familiar. Really, it’s the changes on the traceability label that are most groundbreaking”, says August. ASKET hopes to encourage consumers and brands alike to make more conscious purchasing decisions.
“For decades traditional Made-In labels have provided us all with a dangerously simplified truth of what it takes to create clothing. If we do not know where our garments really come from, how can we possibly make better decisions, be accountable for our actions and start making better choices – for ourselves, the millions of factory workers and the precious resources of our planet?”
The additional wool meant ASKET was able to add two new garments to its permanent collection. The 100% Traceable Merino Wool Garments, available at asket.se from 2.10.19, include:
- TheMerino Sweater, 950 SEK / 90 EUR
- The Merino Wool Polo, 1200 SEK / 110 EUR
- The Plain Wool Beanie, 425 SEK / 40 EUR
- The Ribbed Wool Beanie, 425 SEK / 40 EUR
- The Zip Cardigan, 1900 SEK / 175 EUR
- TheRoll Neck, 1000 SEK / 95 EUR
For more information:
- High-res images are available in the press kit
- For more information on the factories, visit the ASKET Factory Directory
- Or contact Sarah Arts (PR Manager) at sarah@asket.com / call +46 (0)70 291 0661
