What’s so special about cashmere?

There is nothing quite like the soft feeling of cashmere against your skin. Wearing a cashmere jumper or scarf makes you feel like you are wrapped in a fluffy cloud of softness and tenderness. However, what usually puts people off buying a cashmere item is it's price. Let's find out more about where cashmere comes from and why it is so expensive.

Cashmere is made from the hair of cashmere goats and one of the reasons why it has such a steep price tag is because the demand for it is much higher than its production. It is also finer, stronger, lighter, softer, and more insulating than sheep wool. Cashmere goats produce a double fleece, a soft undercoat and a coarser outer coating. In order to process the underdown, it must be de-haired, which is basically a mechanical process that separates the coarse hairs from the fine ones.

However, not all cashmere products are the same, which is why texture and prices can vary. Whiter cashmere, which obviously requires less dye, is softer as the fibres were not damaged as much during the colouring process. The region where the wool is originally collected from also influences on the quality of the product as not all goats have the same diet or are bred in the same climatic area. They are, however, mainly found in a region called Kashmir in China, Mongolia, India and Pakistan and it can take up to four years for a goat to produce enough wool to make a single pure cashmere jumper!

Altough it is not cheap to buy, I would personally recommend investing in a cashmere item as it will last for years, will keep you warm and looking elegant, and make you feel like you are cuddling a soft puppy all day!