BABY CASHMERE

Inner Mongolia

This exquisitely soft, ultra-fine fibre is obtained solely from the douvet of cashmere goat kids: a tiny quantity of pristine fibre that Loro Piana processes with the care merited by all the most precious things.

30 grams of purity

Cashmere comes from the douvet of adult Capra Hircus goats, while Baby Cashmere can only be gathered when the kids are less than a year old. The result is just 30 grams of exceptionally fine, soft fibre, measuring only 13.5 microns in diameter (one micron is a millionth of a metre).

The cashmere goats are native to mountainous regions of Asia, especially Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, largely inhospitable, desert places with little food and water, torrid summers, and frigid winters. To survive in such a hostile environment, these fearless little animals develop an extra layer beneath their coarser outer coat, an under fleece next to the skin made of very fine fibres that trap air and create a highly effective protection against the cold, keeping body temperature constant. This soft mantle is the source of cashmere.

Wearing a garment made of Baby Cashmere, be it a downy scarf or a sweater, means being enveloped in a soft embrace.

Raising the standards for responsible Cashmere

Since 2019, Loro Piana has taken an active role in defining a certification protocol for a responsible Cashmere supply chain, especially in China. The business partnered with the International Cooperation Committee of Animal Welfare (ICCAW) and the Sustainable Fiber Alliance (SFA) to draft the standard and took part in one of six pilot projects. This commitment led to the first batches of Cashmere being certified in 2021.

Baby Cashmere was the brainchild of Pier Luigi Loro Piana. While visiting Chinese goat herders he came across the fibre from the Capra Hircus goat kids, and as a connoisseur, he immediately realized just how fine and soft it was, "like touching baby hair". It took him ten years to convince a select number of herders to separate the fibre from the kids from that of the adults, given the tiny quantities involved. Meanwhile in Italy the company began experimenting with Baby Cashmere, to work out how best to spin and weave it, respecting its ultra-delicate consistency and accentuating its natural properties. Ten years later the formula had been perfected, and Baby Cashmere began being crafted into products of astounding softness, first knitwear, then fabrics and outerwear. It was an immediate success: a new excellence for Loro Piana.