scarcity

For more than six generations, Italian company Loro Piana, the world’s most revered wool and cashmere brand, has been sourcing the finest fibers from some of the most inhospitable places on Earth to create its famously exquisite fabrics and garments. After decades of buying its raw cashmere fibers directly from selected herdsmen from Inner and Outer Mongolia, in 2009 it launched a sustainable development program, the Loro Piana Method, with universities in Italy, China and Mongolia. This initiative aims to further improve the impeccable quality that Loro Piana’s devoted customers expect of its cashmere, support smaller herds through selective breeding, preserve the ancient and complex craft of harvesting the precious under-fleece, secure a premium price for the herdsmen’s precious fibers, and protect the local ecosystem.

Scotland-based uses both Italian and Scottish sustainable cashmere, with tis fibres taken from the Hircus Goat from the China and the Mongolian uplands. “It’s very difficult to look after the herd in very extreme climate conditions during the winter, and the labour intensive procedures required to obtain a very limited amount of fibre,” says Alessandra Marchini-Gunn, Glenevan Mill’s founder. “To make one of our medium sized jumpers, we require around 300 to 400 grams of yarn which equals to the yield of two to three goats.” Climate change is a big threat to the process, too, because as temperatures rise, the goats are unable to produce those thick coats that lead to the best cashmere.

ou may be wondering, ‘Why Cashmere’? Cashmere is naturally scarce – it’s quality and quantity limited by climate and geography.

“It’s a very finite resource, there is only a certain amount produced in the world. Like diamonds or gold, it is rare, so it’s priced accordingly.

Cashmere is expensive and rightly so. The Changpa carefully comb the goats’ hair during the spring moulting season to harvest the downy undercoat and then the good fibre is laboriously separated from the bad by hand. Once cleaned and processed, the wool from a single cashmere goat only amounts to a mere four ounces. After the fibres are manually sorted, cleaned and hand-spun, the weaving process can begin, which is equally demanding and painstaking.

Crafted from the rarest cashmere in the world, the throw boasts substantial and warming tones, and comes in two calming colors: Flint Gray and Midnight Blue.

It takes several months to a year for highly skilled artisans to work their magic on wooden looms and weave a masterpiece, which will be exported around the world and sold for up to $2,000 (£1,500) by luxury retailers

Naadam has gained traction in the fashion world for its sustainable practices—the company sources the rare material from Mongolia, where the

“it takes about four goats to make one sweater.”

A typical merino sheep produces enough for eight to 10 jumpers; in comparison it would take approximately three to five cashmere goats to create a single jumper

scarcity Cashmere is a 'scarce' product insofar as very small amounts of wool can be obtained from each goat, and the production process is labour-intensive. The message associated with this frame is often that 'it takes four goats to produce a single cashmere sweater'.