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Cashmere, one of the best natural fibres known to occupy, evokes images of soft, delicate luxury mixing the apparent enigma of warmth and lightness.

Originating in Kashmir, high in the mountains of the Himalayas, cashmere is known by its authentic name, pashmina. The word pashmina is much misused, today being adopted to describe scarfs and scarves of diverse mixes of wool, silk, cashmere, and even polyester.

But real pashmina, from the word pashm, means king's fabric, the name for only the very best 100% cashmere, and it's been prized for decades. Pashmina scarfs first found their way to the courts of the Roman Emperors and were later popularised in Europe by Empress Eugenie, better half of Napoleon III, a leader of world fashion in the 19th century, who is credited with introducing cashmere to the western world.

Pashmina or cashmere is the soft downy inner fleece of the Kashmir goat. To stand up to the extremes of temperature in the mountains, dry arid summers and freezing winters, the animals grow two coats, the outer one hard and wiry and the inner one soft and luxurious.

How is it produced?

In spring, the goats start to moult and it is then that the soft fibre is brushed away by hand, each animal producing only a few oz. of hair. Brushing the goats and collecting the fibre is a family occasion. No harm is done to the goats.

Turning the fibre into cloth is a troublesome process and adds to the mystique of the cashmere. The inner and outer coats have to be separated before the fine fibre can be spun and woven. This needs huge talent.

The physical properties of pashmina, or cashmere, explain its exclusivity and desirability. The fibre is so fine, at least six times finer than a human hair, and measures about 11 nanometers (11/1000 of a millimetre). When the fibres are twisted together during the spinning process, thousands of minute air pockets form which give cashmere its amazing insulation and weightlessness.

It takes the yearly output of 3 to four goats to supply one cashmere shawl. Put another way, so fine is the fabric that one hand spun, hand woven headband uses 1.5km of this precious fibre, yet weighs less than 75grams. Traditionally in Kashmir the spinning and weaving is done by hand, the ladies spin and the men weave, while most other cashmere is now produced by machine. At Black we have cashmere using both methods.

Today cashmere is a popular luxury material utilised for creating ourcashmere gloves cashmere hats, jumpers and scarves and cashmere socks.We pride ourselves on using the highest quality cashmere in the United Kingdom. The range of designs are modern and classy and available in 1 or 2 different colours to match any wardrobe.