What is cashmere and is it sustainable?
It’s officially knitwear season, so what better time to write a short blog about the soft, luxurious fabric we call Cashmere. Have you ever wondered why Cashmere is so expensive or if it is a sustainable option ? If so, read on.
Cashmere has long been associated with luxury due to it’s delicate softness, the fact it is more insulating (so warmer to wear) than sheep wool and formed of extremely fine silk-like fibres.
As cashmere is a natural fibre it is biodegradable so does not have the challenges of synthetic fibres such as nylon that do not decompose.
Where does Cashmere come from?
Whilst wool comes from the hair of sheep, cashmere comes from hair of goats and originated in Kashmir, India - hence the name cashmere. However, the main producers of cashmere now (as of 2019) are China, Mongolia and Afghanistan.
The cashmere goat produces two layers of hair, a thick, wiry topcoat hair and then a super soft undercoat that is used to make cashmere. To extract the hair, the goats are ‘combed’ or shorn just once a year for their cashmere.
To create high quality cashmere, the hair is combed from the goat after the winter months when it is the longest. Lower quality cashmere is generally shorn which produces a shorter fibre that is more prone to piling (bobbling).
Why is cashmere so expensive?
Would it surprise you if I mentioned it takes the hair of four goats to make just ONE cashmere sweater ? To put this into context, one sheep can produce at least 3 kilos of wool each year, yet a cashmere goat will only produce around 200 grams of cashmere per year.
As the cashmere hairs are so soft and delicate, it then needs to be processed (separated, dyed, spun etc) with extreme care to turn it into the fibre used to create our super soft garments.
As cashmere is biodegradable, it is a sustainable/ethical option?
We know that cashmere is a natural fibre so from a sustainable point of view, it does not cause the same problems as synthetic fibres that do not decompose.
However, the issue with cashmere is in the volumes that the fashion industry now tries to produces it.
To create cashmere at a lower price point and in larger volumes there has been a sharp increase in the rearing of Cashmere goats. With the increase in farming comes the reduced care for these animals who are now a commodity in this huge business feeding the fast fashion industry.
For example, where goats were once gently combed to obtain the cashmere from their coat, to speed the process a PETA exposé on the industry found that some farmers tied goats up and used sharp metal combs - which causes extreme pain - to extract the hair forcibly from the animals.
Farming goats for cashmere now takes up huge amounts of valuable grassland. In Mongolia, farmers who once used to rely of rearing cows, sheep, camels and yaks to make a living are now turning to herding goats for cashmere. Goats, who are notoriously unfussy eaters are known for ripping up entire plants as they graze, damaging soil with their sharp hooves and reducing biodiversity in the land. In China and Mongolia the amount of valuable grassland has reduced due to the rearing of cashmere goats (by 65% in Mongolia according to a survey) and pollution has increased. There are reports that if changes were made now, 90% of this grassland in Mongolia could be reinstated within 10 years, but if we wait five to ten years it may be too late.
With cashmere goat farming now a big business, it seems to be less about the animals, the workers wellbeing and the planet and more about the volume that can be produced to satisfy the demand by fast fashion brands.
“Yes, I know my goats are harmful to our grassland and the more we have, the worse our land becomes. I get that. But this is how we earn our money. All I can do is watch my grassland disappear’”
Ultimately, the volume of cashmere now demanded by the fashion industry at such a low cost has resulted in unsustainable and unethical practises.
So what can we do to ensure we’re shopping cashmere responsibly ?
Buy good quality cashmere, rather than low cost, high street cashmere which may be poorer quality or mixed with other fibres.
Explore items made from recycled cashmere. You can now find knitwear made from recycled cashmere on the high street in stores such as TOAST, Reformation and Arket.
Above all, make your clothes last ! If we all bought a few cashmere items and properly care for them so they stand the test of time there would not be the need for such a huge unsustainable cashmere operation to meet constant demand.