How a former British army officer turned Tibetan yak wool into luxury fashion
- Khunu, co-founded by Julian Wilson, uses the yak’s soft undercoat to create cashmere-like premium jumpers
- When Wilson wore a Khunu garment on a trip to see the Tibetan herders, they laughed in disbelief at what he’d created
Nobody would think yak hair would be suitable for luxury jumpers. Where did you get the idea? “I used to live and work in Beijing and travel a lot to the border regions. I observed that the coarse fibre from the yaks was being used for ropes and tents but the soft fibre wasn’t being used at all; it falls off the animal and blows away in the wind.
“The rationale was that wool that keeps animals warm at 4,500 metres during the winter, in pretty tough conditions, clearly works well. The idea was to see how soft we could make it.”
How did you turn a whim into commercial reality? “I started the company with a friend, Aaron Pattillo, after we met on a mountain-biking expedition. At the time he was with the Clinton Health Access Initiative, working very much in the non-profit space, whereas I was in financial communications, which was very much in the for-profit space.
“We were looking to work together with something that was a for-profit business with social impact. We were convinced yak wool could have its own identity; people want to feel close to where their fibre comes from.”
The jumpers sell for up to £270 (US$345), a similar price to cashmere. Who buys them? “The demographic is 30- to 55-year-old professionals who appreciate quality and are prepared to pay for it. It is a premium product, not in the uber-expensive luxury space. Yak wool is softer than merino and has a more luxurious feel.