All About Cashmere

Below is a brief rundown of the luxurious fabric known as cashmere. More than just a soft fabric, cashmere keeps you warmer than most wools, for very good reason.

Cashmere’s Calling

We live in a world of disruptors. Like those nimble start-ups changing the face of innumerable industries as slow-footed stalwarts remain stuck in the morass of mediocrity. Those disruptors succeed because they don’t adhere to rigid strictures of “business as usual.” Rather, they eschew the rules. 

Men’s fashion in 2020 is like that, too. You can dress with less rigidity: go sockless with a suit, leave the tie at home, ditch the belt. You know, though, there’s a “but” coming … 

But, there’s one rule we’re sticklers about: every man’s wardrobe should have at least one item of cashmere. Even if it’s a token, like a pair of socks or a scarf, you deserve cashmere. 

Loro Piana cashmere at 1701 Bespoke

Capra Hircus goat herder in Mongolia. Courtesy: Loro Piana

The Lineage

To know cashmere, to appreciate cashmere, to crave cashmere, it’s probably a good idea to learn the basics. 

Cashmere is made from processing the hair of goats that live in the Tibetan highlands (think Himalayas). These aren’t the goats you think you know. No, these goats — Carpa Hircus — are a singular species native to that lofty region of the world.

The goats’ hair is especially long and fine (six times finer than human hair), naturally soft and wonderfully warm; it has to be, as temperatures can plummet to 40 degrees Fahrenheit below zero. 

Capra Hircus goats

Courtesy: Loro Piana

Wild Carpa Hircus goats (sometimes called Pashmina goats) either molt (in spring), or are sheared, and then the hairs are selected for quality; the goats are domesticated in Mongolia, from where the best cashmere comes, and where many herders hand comb the animal. 

After collection, the hairs are cleaned and woven into threads. The fabric can be thin (2-ply) or abundantly thick (10 – 12 ply) … but it’s never bulky. And because a goat produces only about 3.5 ounces of usable cashmere, making a sweater requires fiber from at least two, and possibly six, goats.   

Cashmere is much softer, warmer and more isothermal — meaning it maintains a consistent temperature — than traditional sheep’s wool. This means you can wear cashmere directly against your skin and not itch. Try on a cashmere sweater for the first time and you’re likely to soon ditch those bulky wool numbers taking up too much space in your drawers. Now, step into a cashmere suit and, well, you may be forgiven for wanting to wear the suit everywhere; it looks that great and it’s that comfortable.

Think of it this way: fly first class and you’re ruined from flying coach forver. 

Loro Piana’s factory in Quarona, 20 miles away from Biella

Italian Cashmere

So where do you go for the best cashmere?

Italy.

Consider that the Italian textile industry has occupied a place of supremacy for centuries. And this holds true for cashmere.

Italy’s best mills have the capacity to turn the fiber into that sublimely soft fabric, ready to be made into suits.

Among those manufacturers, we proudly stock fabrics from Loro Piana.

Known for their cashmere, Loro Piana goes to great lengths to make sure they only buy the very best stock.

And they stake their reputation on it.

In 2015, the company allegedly only bought 40% of their typical amount of cashmere because it didn’t meet their standards.

They were willing to take a major hit on their cashmere business because it did not stand up to the Loro Piana name.

Keith Magna of 1701 Bespoke hand sewing a cashmere scarf made to order for clients.

The Localization

Only the most capable hands, then, craft garments of distinction, elegant but not flashy, and sublimely comfortable. We’re fortunate our head tailor, Keith Magna, is one of those craftsmen. 

A visit to our studio will most likely find him, tie askance and shoes kicked off, staring intently at the prize before him in the workroom: meters of silk or cashmere, hand rolling the fabrics into ties or pocket squares, and scarves, respectively. 

You read that correctly: hand rolling. In this way, each item has a three-dimensional look we simply cannot achieve with a sewing machine. The process — rolling edges with great precision and securing them with fine stitches — takes several hours. And the result is well worth the work (not effort … because effort would imply drudgery, and this work is pure joy). 

Further, no two pieces will be exactly the same. Your pocket squares, your ties, your scarves are just that: yours alone. And, each proudly carries the distinction of being crafted by hand in Detroit. 

So, go ahead, disrupt your style.