Almost all of the world's cashmere comes from two places: Inner Mongolia, which is a region of China, and Mongolia, which is an independent country to its north. The goats are closely related. The climate, the herding and the processing are not, and that is where the differences in the finished sweater come from.
Why the climate matters
Cashmere is the down undercoat that goats grow for winter. The colder and drier the winter, the finer and longer the down. Mongolia's winters reach minus 40 °C on the steppe, and the goats are kept outside in free-ranging herds through all of it. The result is a fibre that averages 15 to 16 microns in diameter with a staple length of 36 to 40 mm or more. Those two numbers, fineness and length, are what decide how a sweater feels and how long it lasts.
How cashmere is graded
The trade grades raw cashmere by micron count and length. Grade A is the finest and longest: under 16 microns, over 36 mm. Grade B is 16 to 19 microns. Grade C is above 19 microns and shorter, and is close to fine sheep's wool in feel. A fine, long fibre spins into a smooth, even yarn that pills less, because there are fewer short ends on the surface to roll up. A coarse, short fibre makes a yarn that feels soft on the shelf, because it is brushed up, and sheds and pills within weeks.
No brand prints the grade on the label, and you cannot measure microns in a shop. What you can do is read the rest of the label and handle the piece, which the last section covers.
What "Made in Mongolia" means
Most Mongolian cashmere leaves the country raw and is spun and knitted elsewhere, usually in China, sometimes in Italy or Scotland. A sweater labelled "Mongolian cashmere" may have been knitted anywhere. A sweater labelled "Made in Mongolia" was spun and knitted in the country, in one of the mills around Ulaanbaatar. Our pieces are the second kind: the fibre is combed from Mongolian herds, scoured, dehaired and spun in Mongolia, and knitted there too. That keeps the supply chain short and keeps the processing in the place that knows the fibre best.
How cashmere is collected
Goats are combed once a year in spring, when the down loosens on its own. A goat gives 150 to 250 grams of raw down, and after washing and dehairing, about half of that is usable fibre. A single sweater needs the down of three to four goats. That arithmetic is the reason cashmere costs what it costs, and the reason a very cheap cashmere sweater is worth a second look at the label.
How to tell pure cashmere from a blend
- Read the percentage. By law the label must state the fibre content. "100% cashmere" means that. "Cashmere blend", "cashmere touch" or "with cashmere" usually means 5 to 30% cashmere with wool, nylon or acrylic.
- Hold it to the light. Pure cashmere has a matte, slightly fuzzy surface. A sheen usually means synthetic fibre in the mix.
- Stretch a cuff. Cashmere stretches and recovers slowly. Nylon or elastane snaps back.
- Rub the surface. If a lot of fuzz lifts straight away in a new piece, the yarn was made from short fibres and brushed to feel soft. It will pill fast.
- Check the weight. A full-length cashmere sweater in a standard gauge weighs 250 to 350 grams. Much lighter at the same thickness often means a loose knit that will lose its shape.
Every piece in our women's and men's collections states its fibre on the label as 100% cashmere or 100% yak wool, and all of it is knitted in Mongolia. For a sense of the fibre, the Hazel V-neck cardigan and the Orkhon men's crew-neck are both in a fine, smooth gauge that shows the yarn clearly. If you are deciding between cashmere and the yak pieces, our yak wool guide sets the two side by side.