There is something about cashmere, the soft, fluffy and light yarn can make anything it is made with look luxurious.
There are few of us that can walk past a table of cashmere jumpers without stopping to have a stroke.
But what makes a cashmere jumper so much more expensive than every other yarn and why is it one of the most expensive materials to use in the fashion industry?
It has everything to do with how difficult the the yarn is to obtain.
A single cashmere jumper requires the hair of around 4 cashmere goats. These goats have, of course the softest hair. But the one major downside to cashmere goats is that they don’t grow much of it.
Every year, from March to May Cashmere goats go through a process called moulting, creating a mixture of hairs from the coarse top coat and the soft and fine undercoat.
Just imagine the cost of maintaining all these goats, if it takes 4 of them to make one jumper.
The costly production process behind a cashmere jumper on top of its origins is another factor as to why this luxurious yarn is so expensive.
The fine fibres of the undercoat must be separated from the coarser top coat, which is a labour-intensive activity that is often done by hand. This, as a result means that cashmere has a low production output, because only the undercoat fibres make up cashmere yarn.
Not only is cashmere rare, it is considered to be one of the highest quality yarns becasue it is lightweight, yet considered to be one of the warmest yarns you can get.
A jumper blended with cashmere and merino means that you get the benefits of two natural superior yarns at a lower more sustainable cost.
For more on the properties of cashmere: Our 4 Key Yarns
Shop our cashmere merino range here.
