Can a £50 cashmere knit really be any good?
On A chilly autumn day, there’s nothing more comforting than slipping on a cashmere jumper.
But, with price tags rising as high as £300, many of us see cashmere as an unaffordable indulgence.
Instead, we opt for cheaper, lower- quality knits made from wool blends or artificial fibres — which are easier on the bank balance, but fade and fall apart before winter is over.
This year, however, cashmere cardigans, jumpers and polo-necks are popping up all over the High Street at astonishingly affordable prices.
At Uniqlo, there are cashmere mix sweaters for just under £25, while H&M has a range of cashmere blend polo-neck jumpers in autumnal red and orange hues for less than £40.
If you’d prefer 100 per cent cashmere, you can buy cardigans for just £50 at Tesco, while Marks & Spencer stocks pure cashmere ribbed jumpers in eight flattering shades for £75.
So how come cashmere is suddenly so affordable? Can you really get a good-quality autumn knit for around £100? We unpick the secrets of High Street cashmere — and put it to the test.
WHERE IS IT FROM?
One of the rarest natural fibres in the world, cashmere is not, in fact, wool or fur, but hair, which grows on the underbellies of goats.
These goats are found in central Asia, where they graze an area twice the size of europe, encompassing Inner and Outer Mongolia, China and Afghanistan.
The word ‘cashmere’ comes from an old spelling of Kashmir, a state in northern India, where the animals originated.
Indian emperors used hair shorn from the goats to make shawls for formal occasions. Cashmere came to Britain during the 18th century, when a Scottish textile manufacturer began importing it to sell to upper-class women.
‘Having such fine hair helps the goats adapt to an extreme Mongolian climate,’ explains Simon Cotton, a cashmere expert and CeO of Scottish knitwear company Johnstons of elgin.
‘In May and June, the goats start moulting, and this is when the soft, fleecy under-hair is revealed.’
Farm workers use combs to sort coarse outer hair from the long downy hairs underneath.
The highest-quality hairs are 3cm to 4cm long; cheaper cashmere is made from short hairs which are woven together end-to-end to give the illusion of length.
WHY IS IT SO SOFT?
GOAT hair is much finer and more delicate than sheep’s wool.
Unlike wool and angora, which are straight, cashmere fibre is bumpy. These bumps help the fibres cling to one another, rather than sticking out and scratching your skin.
not only are they gentler, but they’re better at trapping body heat: the best cashmere is eight times warmer than wool.
processes carried out during manufacturing also give cashmere its characteristic softness. Repeatedly washing the fabric in warm water keeps it smooth.
The raw material is sent to factories (usually in China), where it’s fed through a rolling blade which shaves off tangles.
It then goes into a heated centrifuge, which spins the fibres at high temperature eight to 12 times to remove impurities.
... AND SO PRICEY?
THeRe are two reasons for the steep cost of cashmere.
First is the scarcity of raw material: there are limited numbers of goats, so the amount of hair they provide is finite. Global production of cashmere is relatively low: 6,500 metric tons a year compared with two million metric tons of wool.
The second reason is the cumbersome production process. Much of the shearing, sorting, cleaning and combing is done by hand, and cashmere is then categorised into grades according to its length and thickness. All this requires high staffing costs, and factory overheads. ‘It’s a really delicate fibre and it needs to be treated gently,’ explains Simon Cotton.
HOW COSTS ARE CUT
CHeAp garments are often associated with underpaid workers and badly treated animals — but cutprice cashmere doesn’t have to mean unhappy goats.
The revolution started ten years ago, when global import regulations were relaxed and China started exporting huge volumes of cashmere to europe.
This, combined with sinking demand for luxury goods, made the market dip — and prices fell. A change in the supply chain has also cut costs. Uniqlo says it has started sourcing fabric directly from
farmers in China and Mongolia, cutting out middle men.
Some low-cost cashmere may be made from ‘guard hair’, the slightly coarser hair shorn from goats’ backs, bellies and beards.
Although not the highest quality, it is still technically ‘cashmere’, but it may pull or bobble more.
Finally, costs are kept down by knitting the garment loosely. Many products now are light, fine pullovers, which require less fabric.
THE KNIT-KNACKS
OnCe it’s been cleaned and sorted in a factory, the cashmere is rolled into bales and shipped to europe, where it is spun into a yarn.
Cashmere, whose natural colour is white, beige or brown, is dyed at this stage of the process.
The cashmere is sold to designers for around £200 per kilogram. Some low- end manufacturers use computerised knitting machines, capable of producing more than 10,000 stitches and patterns.
High-quality brands do this part by hand, producing superior knits with a better fit.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
LOTS of High Street jumpers have ‘cashmere’ in the name — but a closer look at the label reveals they may contain only 5 per cent cashmere, blended with 95 per cent wool or cotton.
So how is it legal to call them ‘cashmere’? According to industry rules, the terms ‘100%’, ‘pure’ and ‘all’ can only be used if the garment is made exclusively from one fibre.
If it’s made from two or more different fibres, it must bear a label clearly stating the percentage composition of each one.
There is nothing to stop retailers using the word ‘ cashmere’ in the garment’s name.
LOOK OUT FOR . . .
THe best cashmere is made from long, pure fibres — these won’t pull or break as easily as shorter fibres. You can check this by feeling the weight of the jumper: cheaper ones weigh 100-200g, while a well-made garment may be as heavy as 300g.
You can gauge its quality by stretching part of it and watching how quickly it reshapes: good quality fabrics take 1-2 seconds.
experts say blended materials aren’t necessarily bad. Woolcashmere is still reasonably warm and is hardier than pure cashmere. Silk-cashmere produces a strong, thin jumper with a subtle sheen, while cotton-cashmere has all the softness of the real thing.
PLAIN IS BEST
THe most expensive cashmere jumpers tend to be neutral colours with limited patterns; this is because the delicate fibres can be damaged by excess workmanship. Lighter colours are slightly softer to the touch than darker hues, due to the dyeing process. If embellishment — buttons, sequins, etc — is added, this can pull the delicate fibres, weakening them.
The best cashmere jumpers last at least ten years. But if you want to get the most out of your purchase, experts recommend going for a slightly looser fit. This will stop bobbling, which occurs when shorter cashmere fibres twist around themselves in areas where there is friction (under the arms or around the neckline, where it can rub against the skin).
CAN YOU WASH IT?
UnLIke wool, cashmere improves the more it is washed — the surface fibres become fluffy and insulate the fragile inner fibres, helping the garment hold its shape. It is, however, vulnerable to heat, which forces the ultra-fine hairs together and makes your jumper shrink. knitwear experts say a change in size of 5 per cent over the years is to be expected.
Cashmere should be handwashed in cool water (around 30c), or on the gentlest setting of your washing machine, using delicate detergent or baby shampoo.
Once washed, remove excess water by patting with a towel and lay flat to dry; hanging cashmere stretches the fibres out of shape. If you notice bobbling or pilling, use a cashmere comb (£5 from Amazon or John Lewis) to remove bumps.
Simon says you don’t need to wash cashmere as often as a normal woolly — once or twice a month should suffice.
‘It’s a natural fibre so it has inbuilt antimicrobial properties and should keep itself fresh and clean,’ he explains.