Our Commitment to Natural Materials Sustainable and earth-friendly manufacturing

Our Commitment to Natural Materials
Sustainable and earth-friendly manufacturing

We are convinced that natural materials can be used to make products that are also friendly to the global environment.

We have been making products using natural materials since our establishment in 1992, when the term SDGs had not yet been coined. This is because I like materials supplied from natural sources and I want to be as useful as possible to people who produce raw materials while coexisting with nature.

　When I first started the company, I tried my best to show that I could handle a wide variety of materials, including natural wool, alpaca, mohair, cotton, linen, and silk, but the characteristics of each material were diverse and deep, and it was difficult to handle them.

As a result, what I was left with was a sense of defeat and inventory.

I realized that the reason he had worked so hard to increase the number of materials was because he was worried that he would not be able to sell his products unless he had a wide selection, and he came to experience firsthand that " dealing with so many materials means, after all, that nothing can be mastered. Since establishing a knitwear company and discovering cashmere knitwear, I have been captivated by its appeal and has decided to stick to cashmere, the ultimate natural material. I decided to focus only on cashmere, which I love, so if the business doesn't work out, I have no regrets.  As soon as I made the decision to give up knitwear once and for all if cashmere failed, I felt as if the clouds that had been hanging heavy over my mind were lifted. Of course, it was a disadvantage to compete only with cashmere, but it was the only option for me, a newcomer with no talent, to compete with other knitting companies.

Cashmere is an agricultural product, just like milk in dairy farming. It is an agricultural product that is sustainable because farmers make a living by raising cashmere goats and harvesting the winter coats that grow back in the spring. Even if it is disposed of, it returns to the soil, so it has no impact on the earth.

UTO makes all of its products in molded knitwear because of its commitment to using limited resources carefully and not wasting precious yarns while emitting as little CO2 as possible.