Whether as a pullover, scarf or stockings – cashmere is by far the greatest feeling when it comes to knitwear. The fine, long fibers are characteristic of the noble wool. The longer the fibers, the higher the quality of the material. Compared to sheep’s wool, cashmere keeps you warmer, adapts to the body due to the heat and is also water-repellent.
The wool, which is obtained from the fine hair of cashmere goats and is still considered a luxury material today, can now also be found in large numbers in the shops of fast fashion chains. But cashmere is not just cashmere, which is also reflected in the price.
Due to the complex extraction process, cashmere is more expensive than sheep’s wool per se. The good news, however, is that high-quality cashmere can withstand several winters with you if you care for it properly. It is therefore all the more important to invest in quality goods. For your orientation: Fair production usually also means that the products are of high quality and sustainable.
The cashmere goat originates from Asia, more specifically from the Kashmir region in the Himalayas – a region that is partly part of India, Pakistan and China. China is still the world leader in cashmere production. In order to win the fibers for cashmere clothing, you need the fine downy hair of the goats. This is obtained by combing out during the change of coat or by shearing the animals. The fibers obtained are washed and sorted, then the desired undercoat of the fur is separated by hand from the coarse outer hair until the fine material can be processed into yarn.
Animal protection organizations such as Peta speak out against the use of cashmere wool, as obtaining it can be associated with animal suffering. The first brands, such as the Swedish fashion group H&M, have already reacted by stopping the sale of conventionally manufactured cashmere. Instead, sweaters made from certified yarn are now on the shelves. But keyword greenwashing: How can you tell whether the goods have really been produced sustainably?
Beware of counterfeit cashmere
The first thing to do is to look at the label. It says whether the product is pure cashmere or a cashmere-wool blend. If a sweater made of 100 percent cashmere is offered too cheaply, you can be pretty sure that people are cheating. The raw material alone costs quite a lot. Instead, these products are often made from viscose, which you can usually feel.
The shorter the fibers, the poorer the quality, because short fibers tend to form unwanted fluff, also known as pilling. This reduces the longevity for which the material is actually known. Someone who knows cashmere well is our fashion columnist Peter Kempe. He explains to us why short fibers are of poor quality: “If you spin the yarn, the ends of long fibers can be closed much better, with short fibers many ends remain,” says Kempe. The style expert advises focusing on the country of origin when it comes to quality. With cashmere from Tibet, Mongolia, Scotland and Great Britain, good quality is virtually guaranteed. Kempe also says that there can be no high-class cashmere for 79 euros. An exception is the Japanese fashion brand Uniqlo. Here you can find good cashmere sweaters for comparatively little money, the fine wool is available there for around 130 euros.
There are now a number of seals of quality for the products, which are intended to guarantee fair production methods. One of them is “The Good Cashmere Standard”, an independent cashmere seal of approval that aims to ensure the protection of animals, people and nature in cashmere production. The initiative was founded by the Aid by Trade Foundation, which campaigns for environmental protection and fair trade. Using the guidelines of the Farm Animal Welfare Committee, an animal welfare advisory body set up by the UK, it is defined that animals must be free from hunger, thirst, suffering, pain, injury or disease in order for the fair Kashmir certification to be awarded.
Tina Stridde, Managing Director of the Aid by Trade Foundation, explains that there are often problems with counterfeits when it comes to cashmere wool. Inferior wool, such as sheep’s wool, is often chemically treated and falsely sold as cashmere. The Good Cashmere Standard has the option of marking cashmere with so-called DNA markers, for example, so that it can be clearly determined from the end product which items of clothing actually contain the certified fine wool, says Stridde. In addition, all retailers and brands are able to trace where the raw materials really come from, since all players in this textile value chain are part of a digital tracking system.
Which brands offer good cashmere?
The Hamburg organization now awards a number of products with the certification – including brands such as COS, Marc O’Polo and Banana Republic. The animal-friendly seal works with over 7900 cashmere farms around the world, which together keep over 3.3 million cashmere goats. From this, 3000 tons of cashmere wool are won per year, so that there are over 6 million garments made from certified cashmere on the clothing market.
Undyed Cashmere Wool at COS: To minimize environmental pollution, bleach and other chemical dyes are completely avoided.COS
COS is expanding the environmentally friendly aspect of cashmere fashion: the new “Undyed Cashmere” collection is currently available primarily in beige and brown tones. These are the original colors of the pure wool of the cashmere goats, which is twisted into the yarns. This means that in order to expand the environmentally friendly aspect, the brand completely dispenses with bleach or other environmentally harmful chemical dyes during production.
But not only large retailers have committed themselves to sustainable cashmere, many young labels are also concentrating on it. One of them is reformation. The brand from Los Angeles, which once started as a vintage store, now advertises with the so-called 90/10 formula: Only ten percent of the processed cashmere still consists of so-called virgin cashmere – i.e. newly manufactured wool. The remaining 90 percent is recycled cashmere. The label says it helps reduce the carbon footprint by 87 percent compared to the pure cashmere variety. The parts of the “90/10 Cashmere” line are available from around 200 euros.
New cashmere formula from California label Reformation: 90 percent recycled luxury wool.Reformation
The Swedish brand Asket also relies on fairly manufactured, environmentally friendly cashmere. The brand states that it has given up working with conventional cashmere and is now only working with wool that has already been used. Also upcycling. Using mechanical dyeing, fibers are extracted from old wool sweaters and spun into new yarn. The result is cashmere that does not lose out against other models in terms of sustainability. “The Cashmere Sweater”, which is available for both men and women, is available for 175 euros.
Cashmere upcycling: “The Cashmere Sweater” by Asket is made from wool that has already been used.ascetic
If you don’t want to invest money in new goods, you can alternatively look for sweaters that have already been worn in vintage boutiques. These are often said to be of better quality than new models. “This is mainly due to the fact that pullovers made before 1990 were industrially impregnated,” explains Kempe. At that time, cashmere sweaters were made safe from moths and other pests during the so-called eulanyzing process, Kempe continues. The process was considered standard at the time, but was banned in the 1980s.
So there is good – fairly produced – cashmere. If you want to be on the safe side when buying your next wool sweater, you should pay attention to a few things: seal of quality, materials, description – and above all, remember that good quality simply has its price. A good cashmere sweater should be available from 150 to 200 euros.