What Is Cashmere? & Where Does Cashmere Come From?

Beneath a goat’s coarse outer hair there is an undercoat of incredibly fine fibres concentrated around their bellies. Products labelled cashmere can be made using material sourced from the fine fibres found on cashmere goats, ‘pashmina’ goats, and some other breeds of goat. 

It’s the fineness of the natural fibres that contribute to the materials’ much-prized softness and why a cashmere garment is considered a luxury item. 

As for cashmere’s origin, the vast majority of cashmere comes from goats found in the Gobi Desert - an area stretching from Northern China across into Mongolia. The best cashmere in the world is Mongolian - specifically that found on goats from Inner Mongolia, with the country's natural climate making the animal’s belly hair grow tighter.

Why is Mongolian cashmere the best?

Beneath a goat’s coarse outer hair there is an undercoat of incredibly fine fibres concentrated around their bellies. Products labelled cashmere can be made using material sourced from the fine fibres found on cashmere goats, ‘pashmina’ goats, and some other breeds of goat. 

It’s the fineness of the natural fibres that contribute to the materials’ much-prized softness and why a cashmere garment is considered a luxury item. 

As for cashmere’s origin, the vast majority of cashmere comes from goats found in the Gobi Desert - an area stretching from Northern China across into Mongolia. The best cashmere in the world is Mongolian - specifically that found on goats from inner Mongolia, with the country's natural climate making the animal’s belly hair grow tighter.

All the examples in our shop, whether it’s mens, womens or accessories are made using this wonderful, highly-prized, superior quality wool.

Is Cashmere produced in the UK?

A very small amount of cashmere is produced from goats reared in Scotland, but the majority of ‘Scottish Cashmere’ is only processed there, with the core material being farmed and imported from Mongolia, China and Afghanistan.

Though we ship our cashmere from overseas - a necessity of producing a sustainable amount of knitwear to meet the demand for it, our products are manufactured in short runs and we release new items as they become available, shipping them by the least impact routes possible.  

How is it harvested? Is cashmere an ethically-sourced product?

At Loop, we only used ethically harvested cashmere. This is combed from the goats, not sheared off them. By combing the animals, its natural glossy coat is preserved, leaving the goat as nature intended it. Goats naturally spend the summer months rubbing themselves against fences/gorse to remove their unwanted cashmere, so combing them for cashmere is just giving them a helping hand in a process that they would naturally go through themselves.