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ANIMAL WELFARE

Alchemist is committed to treating animals with the same respect as human beings. We are part of nature, meaning that we see animals, trees, rivers, mountains, and all beings as our equals.

Fabrics and yarns from animals are used in only our knitwear and are always certified. Together with our suppliers we continuously strive to improve their animal welfare practices. We aim to use animal fibers solely when the methods used to raise the animals meet the Five Freedoms.

The Five Freedoms for animal welfare as currently expressed are:

Freedom from hunger or thirst;

Freedom from discomfort;

Freedom from pain, injury, or disease;

Freedom to express normal behavior;

Freedom from fear and distress 

Animal-derived materials in our collections

For our high-quality knitwear, we like to use wool. Types of wool that we use are alpaca, merino, cashmere, and sheep wool. We want to make sure that all of the wool used in our collections is certified, and we are committed to using non-mulesed sheep wool. Since 2020, we’ve decided to always have at least one vegan alternative to wool in our knitwear.

Our wools hold the following certification:

Responsible Wool Standard Certification (RWS) 

This certificate requires that wool comes from farms that have a progressive approach to managing their land, respect their sheep and respect the Five Freedoms of animal welfare

Global Recycled Standard (GRS) 

This certificate is intended to use with a product that contains at least 50% recycled material. Each stage of production is required to be certified.  

Our Italian Alpaca suppliers are also associated with: 

The International Alpaca Association (I.A.A.) 

A non-profit organization that is founded to protect the image of alpaca fiber while promoting and guaranteeing sustainable practices.

The Italian Alpaca Society (S.I.A)

A non-profit organization that is dedicated to the development of alpaca breeding in Italy, to help Italian alpaca breeders improve, increase and enhance their alpacas and farms.

Animal-derived materials we have banned:

Mohair

We have banned the use of Mohair from our collections since 2019. 

Leather

We have banned the use of genuine leather since 2019. For all our leather items and patches, we now use a vegan alternative for leather made from non-chemically treated PU by Leathertex.

Other animal-derived materials that we have always strictly excluded from our collections include:

Fur;

Feather and down;

Angora;

Bone, horn, and teeth; 

Any other part of endangered, exotic, or wild animals.