Shining a light on the rare artistry found in various communities and to stimulate those local economies is Silvia’s aim. The concept of “Silvia Gattin” is to promote fair labour practices by showcasing artisan-crafted goods through traveling the world and thus guaranteeing responsible sourcing and production practices.
That’s what happened also in 2017 when Silvia’s path brought her to Nepal and the mystical Himalaya. Hiking along magical mountain passes she was inevitably confronted with nature and its inhabitants such as the yaks and goats that live at the foothills of the Himalaya. Their fine, soft, downy undercoat is responsible for the production of Cashmere.
After the success of Silvia’s Cashmere plaids, she decided to widen the collection and sourced delicate Cashmere Scarves in natural colors that can be worn unisex and not only in winter but also for ladies to cover for instance evening dresses.
The process of manufacturing cashmere is a delicate and lengthy one:
2. Scouring This is simply a washing process to remove any dirt and grease from the wool.
3. Dehairing During this stage any non-Cashmere hairs are removed (such as hairs from the goat’s coarse guard hair). The quality of the Cashmere fibre is determined during this step and this depends on their fibre length and diameter.
The quality of Cashmere is defined by many factors. Just because it feels soft does not mean it is good Cashmere. Some important parameters that affect the quality of Cashmere and more importantly the price are mentioned below.
Fibre length is responsible for the pilling (small woolly balls) quality of the knitwear. The longer the cashmere fibre the higher the tensile strength and in turn the better the product durability. That said, most manufacturers nowadays use shorter fibres, this reduces the price and often gives a softer hand feel at first, but results in higher rate of pilling. Over a short period of time you will notice the garment loosing weight and looking worn-out.
Our manufacturers only use the longer cashmere fibres ensuring the final product has low pilling resulting in higher quality and better product performance. As such, you can be assured of the luxurious nature of our products.
The micron (measure of the diameter of the fibre) of the fibre is responsible for the hand feel of the product. The finer the fiber, the softer it will feel. The International standard range to qualify as Cashmere is set to a maximum of 19 micron. Most manufacturers will use fibre of high micron with shorter fibre making the product cheap and soft but it will in fact be of very poor quality. This will start pilling with the first wear and look worn out in no time.
When you are paying for 100% cashmere, you should be getting 100% cashmere. It is common for some manufacturers to use yarn that has a lesser percentage of cashmere than promised. We have regular tests done to check the purity percentage of our Cashmere and we are so confident about our purity that we offer a 100% lifetime purity guarantee so you can always be certain you are getting the highest quality 100% cashmere product.
High quality cashmere is made to last, so the weight, and therefore the knit structure, is very important. Most manufacturers will make light, loosely knit, poorly constructed garment to reduce the cost. In turn, this product will be low in quality and perform poorly.
Find the new collection here: https://www.silviagattin.com/en/clothing/
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