Preserving what is good and daring to try new things – that is the core philosophy of our family business. In doing so, we continually encounter new, innovative ideas and, fortunately, other textile entrepreneurs who share our passion for high-quality products and textile craftsmanship. And so it was a happy coincidence that we recently met two start-up founders from Baden-Württemberg and Berlin: Ann Cathrin Schönrock (32) and Franziska Uhl (26) from Yarnsustain, who share our entrepreneurial vision and love of textiles. The mission of these two young entrepreneurs is to create high-quality and sustainable products made from combed-out dog undercoat. And because the entrepreneurs' passion and commitment to their project quickly won us over, our first jointly developed back warmer made from dog fibers was launched on the market just in time for the winter weather.
Chiengora® – an innovative natural fiber
With the Chiengora® yarn, Yarnsustain has found an innovative way to make dog wool accessible in relevant quantities and has developed a globally unique spinning technology to produce an extremely light, exceptionally soft and 100% biodegradable yarn.
The principle is incredibly simple: If you groom your dog, you collect the combed-out undercoat instead of disposing of it in the household waste. This is then used to create the fine Chiengora® yarn. Dog wool is a pure byproduct of grooming. About 35% of all dog breeds have an undercoat and therefore require regular combing. The raw fiber required is generated 100% from donations. In addition, a donation is made to animal welfare for each item submitted.
In addition to the resource-saving extraction of the raw material, the innovative Chingora® yarn is also characterized by its short and therefore long-term sustainable and efficient supply chains within Europe, which not only reflects our company values but also the current textile zeitgeist.
Textile Zeitgeist: Sustainable and meaningful
Developing and rethinking textile tradition – we at Medima are passionate about high-quality natural fibers. With a great deal of entrepreneurial spirit, we also want to optimally position our traditional family business for the future. Because the future often begins with the courage to change. Natural resources are limited. That's why it's important for us, too. Together with Schönrock and Uhl, we want to advance issues that affect us all. We contribute our decades of experience with high-quality knitted textiles and our expertise in working with the finest natural fibers. Uhl and Schönrock share their vision of a new type of natural fiber. That's why, in our first groundbreaking collaboration, we have jointly developed a back warmer made from Chiengroa® yarn and in the renowned Medima quality.
