Why is cashmere so luxurious?
 

For people all throughout the world, the word "cashmere" quickly conjures up ideas of luxury and beauty. The use of cashmere goes back to the 14th century and is named after the Kashmiri craftsmen who produced and marketed the first cashmere goods. The cashmere goat, which produces enough wool to make a cashmere scarf over the course of a full year, is where cashmere originates from. To gather the wool needed to manufacture cashmere, their coats are sheared all year round. There are various types of wool and several fabrics made from naturally occurring materials, but they are not as highly prized as cashmere. 

 

Wool from a particular kind of goat, the cashmere goat, must be sheared in order to produce cashmere. Only certain alpine ecosystems in Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Himalayas, Mongolia, and China are home to these goats. The softest, finest cashmere wool is thought to be produced by Himalayan mountain goats, sometimes referred to as Pashmina goats. Customers now pay more for a special type of cashmere called "pashmina." Once more, this expensive cashmere is exclusively sold in a very small area. Additionally, this area experiences severe storms. This makes it challenging to produce and transport cashmere wool, which in turn raises the price of cashmere wool even more. Therefore, it shouldn't come as a surprise that cashmere makes up just 0.5% of all wool produced worldwide. The Tibetan deserts are home to more than 95% of the goats in the world. Chinese, Mongolian, Afghan, and Iranian goat farmers have been working hard to catch up to, if not outpace, the productivity of their Tibetan counterparts. As previously mentioned, goat quality differs according to geography and the surroundings in which the animals are grown. The true worth of the cashmere wool that each region produces is frequently capped as a result.

 

Each goat contributes to the finite amount of cashmere. Each cashmere goat generates relatively little cashmere wool. Only 200 grams of cashmere wool are produced on average every year by a single cashmere goat. The fact that the fibers need to be washed reduces the amount of cashmere that can actually be used. Naturally existing oil and dirt must be taken away in order to render the cashmere useable in textile manufacture. In contrast, a typical sheep would yield three kilos (3,000 grams) of wool annually. Cashmere made from goats is not all created equal, either. The variety of hues that might be supplied is only one of many reasons why the coat's color is so important. White cashmere is the most expensive and scarcest shade. Black is the least valued and most popular color. There is a wide spectrum of cashmere hues in between, all of which vary in their worth.

 

Major luxury apparel companies and shops have made significant investments in cashmere-based product lines. In actuality, the cashmere goods from these firms have grown to be intimately associated with their names. Customers anticipate and actively seek out these firms' cashmere goods, which only serves to further their success. Naturally, rising brand success also means rising customer interest. Demand is further fueled by rising worldwide disposable income as well as brand popularity. Cashmere may also be used to make the shawls and scarves described before, as well as sweaters, coats, trousers, and t-shirts or polo shirts. In fact, since tees and polos are among the cheapest cashmere products, it is projected that this market demand will be the main engine of further expansion for the cashmere sector. Since there hasn't been a way to produce more cashmere without compromising quality, its supply is still constrained and its costs are still high.