How to buy cashmere – a guide to luxury knitwear

My Holy Grail of knitwear is the perfect cardigan – not eye-wateringly expensive, but slim cut and a good shade of black. I recently thought my decade-long search across three continents had finally ended. There it was at a chic French boutique in Central at the bargain price of HK$890 (US$114). It wasn’t long, though, before black clouds began appearing, floating onto tables, white sofas and even other people’s plates.

Where had I gone wrong? In the pursuit of luxury, I’d been focused on affordability and style over quality. But how can you decide between a HK$1,005 (US$128) J Crew jumper and a HK$17,000 (US$2,200) Loro Piana top, especially if they get their yarn from the same source, as reported by The Wall Street Journal in 2009? This is what I learned.

It should be expensive. Every year, one cashmere goat moults only about 150 grams of the prized fibre while the average jumper requires about 300 grams. Only goats that live in high, dry climates through minus-40 degrees Celsius winters develop the right double fleece. Hand-combed, not sheared, fibre from Inner Mongolia is considered the best, though cashmere goats are also bred in China, Central Asia, Afghanistan, Iran, Australia and New Zealand.

The most respected masters of the final stages of production are in Italy and Scotland. Cashmere is the old British spelling for Kashmir, the north Indian region where late-18th-century European traders discovered the exquisite shawls that had been made for the elite for thousands of years. Joséphine Bonaparte, Napoleon’s first wife, collected them, which may have increased their popularity and value. At times, a cachemire could sometimes cost more than a horse carriage. In its truest form, cashmere is a luxury because it is so rare.

Mass distribution from China has brought cashmere to a wider audience, but lower prices have meant a drop in quality and standards.