Italian metallic yarn specialist Lame Ledal is moving in a new direction with its recent decision to become key European distributor for a Chinese-made soya bean fibre.

The new fibre is now being produced by the Harvest Textile Company, a pioneer in processing this form of agricultural waste into a viable textile raw material.

Lame Ledal has rights to market the product in Switzerland and Austria as well as Italy, and is sufficiently enthusiastic about the potential of the line to claim it as an alternative to cashmere.

By Sonia Roberts.