Excerpt from Cashmere Style...A dilemma faces American cashmere growers just now. Many are looking critically at their fleeces and are asking themselves, “Is this good cashmere?” How do you tell? There are three major aspects of cashmere that govern fleece quality: fiber diameter, yield and a third generally referred to as “style and character.” This is the only aspect of fleece that cannot be objectively tested. Fiber diameter and yield are obtainable, at a price, but the elusive style and character continues to confound. Just what is style and character? Some assign separate definitions to the two words, but for the purposes of this article, the two will be combined into one, “Style.” Style is the most important fleece characteristic because the presence of style is the essence of cashmere. It is good style that differentiates good cashmere from poor, all other characteristics aside. The presence of the tight crimp allows spinners to fabricate a thin, strong, soft thread that is the hallmark of quality cashmere. Fleece with poor style doesn’t cling together as well and results in thicker, slicker thread. The third fiber types will not take dye and will be unsightly in the finished garment. We the growers are responsible for supplying fiber that qualifies as cashmere; quality cashmere, not a poor substitute or simulation. First of all, I thought the cashmere industry was well established and was surprised to see that theyre still asking themselves these questions. I now question if we should be following them. Second, the major governing trait that determines quality cashmere cannot be measured! How does one breed for something that cannot be measured? How does this relate to alpacas? We have been told that crimp doesnt matter, that it does not maintain any value once processed. How can this be true of cashmere and not alpaca?
Posted on: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 13:11:02 +0000