Cashmere, pashmina, baby cashmere: the difference that matters
- Pilar
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
The three words are used in fashion headlines as if they were interchangeable. Only one of them tells you anything concrete about the cloth on your shoulders.
The current cashmere market is a confusing territory. The label of a forty-euro jumper reads 100% cashmere. The label of an eighteen-hundred-euro coat reads exactly the same. Both, technically, can be telling the truth. And yet they describe completely different cloths.
The reason is that cashmere is not a category of quality. It is a category of origin — the inner fibre of a goat's coat. What changes is which goat, from which part of its coat, in which season, and at what fineness. That information rarely makes it onto the label.
In this letter we explain what cashmere actually is, what sets apart the three variants used in fashion — classic, pashmina and baby cashmere — and how to recognise a well-made cashmere cloth.
From Kashmir to cashmere
The name comes from the region of Kashmir, in northern India, where shawls were woven for centuries before reaching Europe at the end of the eighteenth century. The fibre itself, however, comes from the Capra hircus — the cashmere goat — which inhabits the frozen plateaus of Mongolia, Inner Mongolia (China), Tibet, Iran, Afghanistan, and Kashmir itself.
The fibre that is gathered is not the visible outer hair — coarse, rough, with no textile value — but the inner coat, the fine down the goat develops to survive temperatures of forty below zero. That coat is shed naturally during the spring moult.
Herders gather it by combing each goat by hand, with wooden or metal combs, never by shearing. The process takes weeks. A single goat produces between one hundred and three hundred grams of pure cashmere a year. One coat requires the fibre of three to five goats.
Cashmere is not a category of quality. It is a category of origin.
The three variants: what sets them apart
Classic cashmere, pashmina and baby cashmere are all variants of the same base fibre. What sets them apart is fineness, exact provenance, and the moment of gathering.
Classic cashmere.
The standard fibre from the inner coat of the adult goat, gathered during the annual spring moult. It measures between 15 and 19 microns in diameter. It is what appears on most labels that read 100% cashmere. Its quality depends fundamentally on three factors: the area of the coat (the neck produces the finest fibre), the geographic region (Inner Mongolia and Tibet yield the most coveted lots), and the gathering method (hand-combing versus more aggressive mechanical methods).
Pashmina.
The word pashmina comes from the Persian pashm — fine wool. It designates a specific variant of cashmere from the Changthangi goat, which inhabits the heights of Ladakh, in the Kashmir region, at over four and a half thousand metres of altitude. The extreme altitude produces an inner fibre even finer than classic cashmere: between 12 and 16 microns.
The term has been used so loosely in commercial circles in recent decades that it has lost almost all its original meaning. A twelve-euro scarf labelled pashmina in a tourist market rarely contains Changthangi goat fibre. Real pashmina, by contrast, is one of the most coveted cloths in the textile world — and its price reflects it.
Baby cashmere.
The fibre from the first combing of kids under twelve months old, before their first full moult. It measures between 13 and 15 microns. It is the finest, softest and most costly variant, and also the most difficult to obtain: each kid produces barely thirty grams of baby cashmere in its lifetime. One jumper requires the fibre of around twenty kids.
Baby cashmere is a rarity even within the cashmere world. It appears mainly in exclusive pieces from Italian houses and, occasionally, in limited bobbins worked in the mills of the Piedmont.
R E A L D I F F E R E N C E S · T H E T H R E E C A S H M E R E V A R I A N T S
CHARACTERISTIC | CLASSIC CASHMERE | PASHMINA | BABY CASHMERE |
ANIMAL ORIGIN | Adult Capra hircus | Changthangi goat | Kid under 12 months |
REGION | Mongolia, China, Tíbet | Ladakh, Kashmir | Inner Mongolia |
ALTITUDE | Above 3,000 m | Above 4,500 m | Above 3,000 m |
FINENESS | 15-19 microns | 12-16 microns | 13-15 microns |
GATHERING | Annual spring moult | Annual spring moult | First combing |
ANNUAL YIELD | 150-300 g per goat | 200-250 g per goat | 30 g per kid |
HAND | Very soft | Extremely soft | Silky, almost liquid |
IDEAL TEXTILE USE | Knitwear, coats | Shawls, scarves | Exception pieces |
The Italian craft of cashmere
The fibre gathered in Mongolia, China or Kashmir travels to Europe to become cloth. The world's great centres of spun and woven cashmere are in Italy — specifically in the Piedmont, around Biella and Borgosesia, and in Umbria, around Solomeo and Foligno.
The reason is historical and geographical at once. Italy has been importing cashmere since the nineteenth century. The mills of the Piedmont, with their exceptionally soft water from the Alps and centuries of textile tradition, give the fibre a treatment that no other origin reproduces. The difference is felt in the hand, the sheen, and the drape of the finished cloth.
Chinese cashmere processed in China — without passing through European mills — is functional and honest, but it has a different finish. Rougher, less lustrous, with a stiffer drape. And the difference is noticeable from the first touch.
How to recognise quality cashmere
The 100% cashmere label does not tell the whole story. Here are five criteria that do make a material difference.
The origin of the fibre.
Fibre from Inner Mongolia and Tibet is the most coveted, due to its thermal extremes. From Outer Mongolia and northern China is excellent. From Iran and Afghanistan tends to be coarser. A serious house mentions the origin if it works it well.
The grade and length of the fibre.
Cashmere fibres are classified by length and fineness. The longest — over 36 millimetres — produce cloths more resistant to pilling. Short fibres, mixed with long ones, lower the price but compromise durability. A premium cashmere spun with long fibres can be recognised because it holds its shape for years.
The number of plies.
Cashmere is spun in one, two or more plies. A two-ply cashmere is the premium standard for jumpers and scarves: more body, more resistance, better drape. Single-ply is lighter and more delicate, suited to summer pieces or inner layers. The number of plies does not always appear on the label — asking is reasonable.
The craft that has woven the fibre.
As with camel hair, where cashmere is woven matters as much as the fibre itself. The Italian mills of Piedmont and Umbria spin and weave with a level of quality control and finish that Asian mills do not replicate.
The hand at first touch.
Well-spun cashmere feels soft from the first moment, without that initial rough texture some houses justify as it softens with wear. If it scratches at the start, it is likely spun with short fibres or blended with undeclared others. Good cashmere, good hand. The rule is simple.
The silent conflict of today's cashmere
An honest conversation about cashmere cannot avoid mentioning the following. Over the past two decades, global cashmere demand has multiplied more than fivefold. What for centuries was an exception fibre has become a mass-consumption product in international chains.
The result: overgrazing in the steppes of Mongolia, where goat herds have grown beyond the soil's regenerative capacity. Goat hooves erode the pastures. Desertification advances. And the average quality of cashmere drops, because goats raised in forced conditions produce coarser fibre.
Serious houses respond in two ways: by limiting the quantity they work with and by caring about origin — working with small cooperatives, maintaining real traceability, accepting that the fibre becomes scarce when done well. Ethical, lasting cashmere cannot be produced industrially. And its price reflects that, without boast or excuse.
Frequently asked about cashmere
Is cashmere obtained by killing or shearing the goat?
No. It is obtained by hand-combing during the spring moult, when the goat naturally sheds its winter inner coat. Combing, done properly, does not harm the animal. Mechanical shearing, practised in some areas, is faster but yields lower-quality fibre.
Are pashmina and cashmere the same?
Technically, pashmina is a specific type of cashmere from the Changthangi goat of Ladakh, with finer fibre (12-16 microns) than classic cashmere. Commercially, the term pashmina has been used so loosely that it has lost its original meaning — most cheap pashminas in circulation are not pure cashmere.
Why do some cashmere coats cost fifteen hundred euros and others two hundred?
Because of three factors combined: the real quality of the fibre (origin, fineness, length), where it is woven (Italian mills versus Asian processors), and the craft of the making. A pure but short-fibre cashmere, woven industrially in Asia and machine-sewn, gives a cheap, short-lived coat. The same fibre, spun in Italy with long plies, woven in double-face in Biella and hand-sewn, gives a coat that lasts decades.
Does cashmere itch?
Well-made, it does not. Quality cashmere — long fibres, carefully spun, without industrial blends — feels soft from the first moment. If it itches, it almost always indicates the cloth contains short fibres or has been blended with undeclared materials.
How long does a quality cashmere coat last?
With proper care, between fifteen and thirty years. Durability depends on the grade of the original fibre (long fibres outlast short ones by far), the owner's care (professional cleaning, proper storage), and the quality of the making.
Can a cashmere coat be washed at home?
No. Professional cleaning with solvent F — hydrocarbon, not perchloroethylene — is the only appropriate method. Cashmere is altered by water, household detergents, and heat. One cleaning a year, at the end of the season, is enough.
What is recycled cashmere, and how does it differ from virgin?
Recycled cashmere comes from used garments unravelled and re-spun. It is an environmentally attractive option, but the process shortens the fibre — so recycled cashmere tends to pill faster and last less than virgin. Virgin cashmere, by definition, comes from the first spinning of the original fibre.
A T T H E A T E L I E R
Cashmere, at Murmells.
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