Socially responsible premium yak down... Carol Chyau, Co-Founder and CEO of SHOKAY (committed to benefitting the communities that produce yak down, conscientiously selecting the right partners, creating timeless products, and using the best business principles), joins Stephanie Benedetto and Samanta Cortes on location at the 2018 WEAR Conference at FIT. In this episode: SHOKAY sustainably sources hand-combed yak down from the remote Himalayan Highlands to bring incredibly light and beautiful textiles with a soft texture. Working with unconventional materials The yak car comes only from locations in Himalayan regions How it is like cashmere, warmer than wool, more breathable than cashmere What can be created from these materials Yak and ecomarine (recycle plastic bottles blended with oyster shell composites, offering anti bacterial and anti odor qualities) Coordinating with brands to innovate Working with a garment manufacturer with wearable tech, utilizing the materials into a piece that can be worn in a lot of circumstances including monitoring of EKG and heart rate Much coordination required for innovation between everyone in ecosystem of manufacturers, innovation is incremental China and a focus on sustainability, a lot of production delays because so many shops are shutting down because they don’t meet regulations Taking things from conversations into real tangible action