Glen Prince Fashion Scarves: Glen Prince :Cashmere

Glen Prince and Cashmere

Cashmere must be one of the most evocative words in the world. It conjures up images of soft luxury and warmth, and calls to mind the high mountains of the Himalayas.
What is cashmere and where did it come from?  As its name implies cashmere originated in Kashmir. It is the fibre spun from the inner fleece of the cashmere goat and is one of the finest fibres known to man.

Cashmere is produced in Mongolia, China, Iran and Afghanistan. The finest cashmere comes form Inner Mongolia where the fibre has a thickness of between 14.5 and 16.5 microns with a micron measuring 0.00004 of an inch. Iranian cashmere is slightly coarser and measures between 17.5 and 18.5 microns.
The goats which produce this luxury fibre are part of the nomadic life of the tribesmen of the Himalayas. Sometime towards the end of the eighteenth century the main tribes migrated north-east from Kashmir in the North of India and finally settled in Inner Mongolia. There they stayed and Mongolia came to be the main cashmere producing area in the world. It is hard to understand how the luxury of cashmere can be associated with the barren life of the Himalayan foothills, where the weather is dry and arid in the summer months and many degrees below freezing in the winter. But it is these conditions which create the right climate for the goats to grow their two coats, the outer coat which is hard and wiry and the Inner fibre which is so soft and luxurious. In the Spring the goats start to moult and it is then that the fibre is combed away by hand, each animal producing about four ounces of hair. Combing the goats and collecting the fibre is a family occasion similar to the Vendange in France, hard, backbreaking work worlds away from the fashion houses of the textile industries in Scotland & Italy.
After the fibre has been combed out it is collected and baled and then transported down to the trading ports formerly on mules. Cashmere comes in three colours, grey brown and white.

Pure White is the most prized for it can be dyed the palest colours and it commands the highest price.
The transformation of the fibre into cloth is a difficult process and contributes to the mystique of cashmere. It is complicated because the inner and outer coats of the goat are mixed together and have to be separated, "de-haired", before the fine fibre can be spun and woven.
It is intimately associated with Scotland and this connection is one of those happy accidents which comes together from a number of strands. The Scots were always traders and explorers. They travelled to the Far East and established those trading companies which today have world-wide reputations. The Scots also had a large indigenous weaving industry and they also had the need for warm clothing in the winter.

Cashmere is the most exciting material to work with. It is difficult to get hold of, it is produced in a remote primitive area of the world. It is complicated to process the fibre and it is very expensive. All the difficulties of dealing with cashmere remain the same and have remained the same for over a hundred and fifty years but it produces a wonderful product which Glen Prince is very happy to be associated with.