Cashmere is the soft downy undercoat combed from cashmere goats each spring. Each goat yields only 150–250 grams of usable fibre a year, which is why genuine cashmere is expensive. Quality is defined by fibre diameter (measured in microns), fibre length, and how carefully the coarse guard hairs were removed during dehairing.
What makes cashmere luxury quality
- Fibre diameter: Grade A cashmere is under 15.5 microns; Grade B around 16–19; Grade C above 19 and noticeably less soft.
- Fibre length: longer fibres (34–36 mm+) spin into smoother, stronger yarn that pills far less than short-fibre cashmere.
- Ply and gauge: 2-ply at 12-gauge is the classic luxury standard; single-ply knits are lighter but wear faster.
- Finishing: Scottish mills traditionally wash in soft Border water and raise the surface with teasels; Italian mills favour a smoother, silkier hand.
- Beware very cheap cashmere: it is usually short-fibre, loosely knit, and will pill and lose shape within a season.
Care
Hand-wash cool with a wool detergent or dry clean sparingly; dry flat; fold, never hang; de-pill gently with a cashmere comb. See the full care guide.
Houses working in cashmere
-
&Daughter
$$$Fully-fashioned lambswool and cashmere designed in London, spun and knitted in Scotland and Ireland
-
Alanui
$$$$The oversized jacquard cashmere fringed cardigan, made in Italy
-
Allude
$$$Munich cashmere house with womenswear, menswear, home, and its own Cashmere Clinic repair service
-
Arch4
$$$Traceable 13.5-micron baby cashmere designed in London and knitted in Inner Mongolia
-
Barrie
$$$$Chanel-owned Hawick cashmere house, designed in Paris and knitted in the Scottish Borders
-
Batoner
$$In-house label of a Yamagata family knitting mill operating since 1951
-
Begg x Co
$$$$Ayrshire cashmere house famed for scarves, now with fully-fashioned cashmere knitwear
-
Brunello Cucinelli
$$$$Coloured cashmere knitwear made in a restored Umbrian hamlet — the definition of quiet luxury
-
Corgi
$$$Hand-framed Welsh knitwear and hand-finished luxury socks, royal warrant holder
-
Cruciani
$$$Ultrafine Umbrian cashmere with unusual washes and technical finishes
-
Éric Bompard
$$$France's cashmere specialist, from sweaters and scarves to childrenswear, in an exceptional colour range
-
evam eva
$$Quiet, natural-fibre Japanese knitwear designed, made and sold in-house by a Yamanashi mill
-
Extreme Cashmere
$$$Unisex, one-size cashmere built as a permanent numbered collection rather than seasons
-
Falconeri
$$Accessibly priced Italian cashmere sold through its own retail chain
-
Fedeli
$$$Family-run Monza cashmere house, from hatmaker in 1934 to knitwear with Zegna and Prada as shareholders
-
Frett
$$Slow-made natural-fibre knitwear produced in family-run, fair-wage factories across Europe
-
One of the world's largest vertically integrated cashmere producers, from raw Mongolian fibre to garment
-
Gran Sasso
$$Vertically integrated Abruzzese mill, the value benchmark for extra-fine merino
-
Colour-forward everyday cashmere founded by Gigi Hadid
-
Seam-free whole-garment Shetland and lambswool knitwear from a family mill in Peterhead
-
Inis Meáin
$$$Luxury reinterpretations of Aran island knitwear, made on Inis Meáin since 1976
-
John Smedley
$$The benchmark for fine-gauge merino and Sea Island cotton, made at Lea Mills since 1784
-
Scotland's only vertically integrated cashmere mill, spinning and knitting its own fibre since 1797
-
Kiton
$$$$Vicuña and 14-micron cashmere knitwear from a Neapolitan house that owns its own mill
-
Lisa Yang
$$$A complete cashmere wardrobe in a pared-back Scandinavian cut
-
Loro Piana
$$$$Baby cashmere and vicuña knitwear from the world's leading rare-fibre house
-
French fine-gauge knitwear and the lustrous proprietary Fil Lumière yarn, six generations of family ownership
-
Malo
$$$$Florentine pure-cashmere label known for an exceptionally soft hand, relaunched in 2025
-
N.Peal
$$$Burlington Arcade cashmere specialist with a goat-to-garment supply chain — the James Bond knitwear
-
Naadam
$$Direct-from-herder Mongolian cashmere at accessible prices
-
Heritage Borders house behind the Argyle jumper and the twinset
-
Saint James
$$The Breton sailor jumper and marinière, knitted in Normandy since 1889
-
Sunspel
$$$British essentials house with Scottish-spun cashmere and lambswool knitwear
-
The Elder Statesman
$$$$Hand-loomed, hand-dyed Californian cashmere made in a downtown Los Angeles craft factory
-
Family-run Hawick knitter of dense multi-ply cashmere, Geelong lambswool and camelhair
-
Zegna
$$$$Fully traceable Oasi Cashmere and vicuña knitwear from a vertically integrated Biella wool house
Cashmere: frequently asked questions
What is the best cashmere in the world?
The finest raw cashmere comes from Inner Mongolia and Mongolia, where cold winters produce long, fine fibre (Grade A, under 15.5 microns). The most respected finished cashmere knitwear is made in Scotland (Hawick and Elgin) and Italy (Umbria and Biella), where spinning, knitting and finishing expertise has been refined for over a century.
Is Scottish or Italian cashmere better?
Neither is objectively better; they are different styles. Scottish cashmere is typically fuller, warmer and slightly more textured thanks to teasel raising and soft-water washing. Italian cashmere tends to be lighter, smoother and more fashion-led. Both use similar raw fibre; the difference is in spinning and finishing.
How can I tell if cashmere is good quality?
Stretch the knit gently: quality cashmere springs back. Rub the surface: little fibre should come loose. Hold it to the light: dense, even stitches with no gaps. Check the label for 100% cashmere, a 2-ply construction, and a reputable country of manufacture. Price is also a signal — genuine Grade A cashmere cannot be sold for the price of a cotton sweater.
Which brands make the best cashmere knitwear?
Houses in this index specialising in cashmere include &Daughter, Alanui, Allude, Arch4, Barrie, Batoner, Begg x Co and Brunello Cucinelli and 28 more. Judge any of them on fibre grade, gauge, construction and finishing rather than name alone.