Why Yak is a Core Hangai Offer
Hangai Mountain Textiles has built its reputation on one simple idea: crafting timeless, luxury textiles that honor Mongolia’s traditions and culture. At the center of their offer is Yak Down, a rare beautifully soft, luxury fiber that is hand-combed from the domesticated animals that arrived from Tibet with Buddhism several thousand years ago. Yak play a practical and symbolic role in Mongolia’s nomadic culture, particularly in the Hangai mountains, which dominate the center of the country. For thousands of years, yak have served as pack animals that transported herder families from their summer to winter pastures, and then back again. Yak also provide rich milk used to make butter, yoghurt, and dense cream. Coarse yak fiber has traditionally been braided to make the rope used to secure the circular felt-covered Mongolian homes, known as gers. More recently, the fine under coat has been hand-combed, harvesting the fiber that is spun, and then knit and woven into luxurious blankets, throws and garments. According to herders, life in the mountains would be near-impossible without yak, and so while these animals are symbols of abundance, they play a deeply practical role sustaining nomadic families and culture. Hangai proudly support efforts to expand the adoption of yak down as a luxury fiber because of the impact that this can have on preserving Mongolia’s nomadic traditions and culture.
The Unique Properties of Yak Fiber
Wild yaks have roamed the high-altitude pastures of Mongolia for millennia, adapting to some of the harshest climates on earth. To endure winter temperatures that often plummet below -40°C, these resilient animals grow a soft, insulating undercoat. This downy layer is the source of fiber used to knit and weave Hangai Mountain Textiles’ Yak Collections.
Yak fiber is celebrated for its exceptional warmth and breathability. It rivals cashmere in softness, yet has a more substantial hand, offering both comfort and durability. Its structure provides natural thermal regulation, keeping warmth in during cold weather while allowing breathability in milder conditions. The vast majority of the yak down use to knit and weave Hangai’s throws and blankets is unbleached and undyed. It is ALL NATURAL. Unlike many luxury fibers, yak down is also naturally hypoallergenic, lanolin-free, and wonderfully gentle against the skin – perfect for young children and others with sensitive skin.The result is a throw that is both indulgent, practical and perfect for elevating a space or wrapping around your shoulders on a crisp evening.
A Sustainable Heritage
Beyond its remarkable performance, yak fiber carries an equally compelling sustainability story. Unlike intensive farming systems, yaks live freely on Mongolia’s vast grasslands, tended by traditional nomadic herding families. Their coats are not shorn. Herdsmen collect the fine down by hand-combing the animals, a practice that is humane and yields long fibers that are resistant to pilling. The humane, low-impact harvest method respects the animals’ rhythms and avoids the intensive and cruel practices that may be common in industrial supply chains. When fiber is gathered within this traditional system, it supports an approach to rangeland management that has balanced people, animals, and ecology for generations.
Mongolia’s herders rotate pastures with the seasons, dispersing grazing pressure and helping the land recover. Yak graze differently than other herd animals, especially goats. They tend to be more flexible grazers moving over much larger areas, which distributes their impact and helps maintain the health of high pastures and grasslands. In short: yak are lighter on the land.
Hangai’s Yak Collection reflects Mongolia’s subtle earth tones, simple textures, and minimalist elegance that showcase the fiber’s natural beauty. Each piece tells the story of the Hangai mountains where families tend their herds of free-roaming yak that graze more sustainably and so help to preserve a natural balance. By supporting the herders who hand-comb the yaks each spring, we have made a deliberate and conscious choice to honor Mongolia’s nomadic traditions and help protect its remote and wild places.
Collections With a Purpose
Each knit or woven piece from Hangai’s Yak Collection is more than a throw, it is an invitation to connect with Mongolia’s exotic nature and traditions. These throws are a celebration of Mongolia’s living heritage, a reminder that true luxury lies not in excess, but in respect for the land, the animals, and the people who care for them.
In a world that often forgets its roots, Hangai’s Yak Collection offers comfort with meaning: a sustainable embrace from the mountains of Mongolia.
