Cashmere history and quality breakdownfrom @maisonrickie

Transcript

Have you ever wondered why Kashmir is just so damn expensive? Walk into a Club Monaco or a Banana Republic and they're selling for a couple $100. But are you actually getting what you're paying for? The answer might not be what you think. No, Kashmir originates from the Himalayas. Specifically the Kashmir Valley, Tibet, Ladakh, and Mongolia. Called cashmere because it was Kashmiri artisans who first mastered the processing and weaving technique to make quality garments. The fiber itself comes from a particular good, the capra herpes, also known as the pashmina good, which evolved is remarkably fine undercoat as protection against brutal winters where temperatures can plunge to negative 40 degrees Celsius. And as these particular conditions that make for the best quality catamaran. So much so that attempts to relocate cashmere goats to other parts of the world have failed, But that's a topic for another video. And each of these goats only produces around 200 grams of raw undercoat annual, roughly enough for one scarf. But after processing, only a 100 grams of that raw undercoat is usable. Meaning to make one cashmere sweater, it requires the annual yield of three to six coats. A full coat would demand 30 to 40 coats. But how did this fiber from seemingly so far become such a symbol within Better culture? Many date the moment back to Napoleon Bonaparte's Egyptian campaign in 1799, where French officers purchased cashmere shawls from trade routes passing through. Napoleon sent several of these shawls to his wife Josephine in Paris and her initial reaction was largely ambivalent, writing to her son ugly and very expensive better light and warm. I have serious doubts that this fashion will last. But within a few years, she ended up becoming cashmere's biggest influencer, wearing cashmere shawls in almost every private portrait and even commissioning custom designs to be sent to Constantinople. French fashion magazines then picked up on these styling choices and cashmere spread throughout European high society. Okay. So now you want your own cashmere. Where do you go and what are you paying for? Quality is graded from a to b to c, depending on the thickness of the fibers. With grade a, you'll be spending north of $1,000 for a sweater. But what you get is a sweater that will last you decades with the right care and will actually get softer with age. Often rank heirloom piece, you'll see minimal pilling and better shape retention over time. Then we have grade b, which is where I think you get the most value. Ranging between $200 and $500 this is what you'll find at your Banana Republic, your Club Monaco. Still soft, still warm, and it's durable enough for worst. The sweet spot for most people. And then with grade c, you'll normally see this blended with another tier to technically say that it's cashmere. But you get what you pay for. With pieces you can often find in the below $50 range. On my page I talk about my journey building and expanding my taste having not grown up with a ton of exposure. So if that sounds interesting to you, like and follow for more.