Italy in Cashmere | A fashion blog from Melbourne

Cashmere. Even the word sounds luxurious. Just close your eyes for a moment and say it slowly. Cassshhhmere. See?

Now picture where that cashmere comes from: a small atelier in Tuscany, the same one founded by Alfonso Colella 36 years ago. As their story goes, it was a small room equipped with a couple of knitting machines, two hands, one brain and a great passion for creating high quality knit wear on small productions basis.

Passed from father to son, Italy In Cashmere has expanded to London and their online store, where you can buy beautiful cashmere directly from the source in Italy. They have avoided the usual supply chains, meaning they are able to offer really high quality in a simple factory-to-consumer bypass.

Shunning unethical practices that can effect the production of cashmere, the company have sought to keep their sourcing and manufacturing in a triangle that goes from Pisa to Florence to Siena. You know you are buying slow fashion here, something where you can trace the origins of the materials and manufacturing which I believe is one of the biggest issues for consumers in 2018.

Cashmere’s been in the news of late, and I understand there can be a lot of confusion about what it is. Somehow people hear the word, see the price tag and assume it must be something luxurious. But what is cashmere and where is it from?

Cashmere wool, also referred to as “golden fleece” or ” king’s fibre” is obtained from a particular type of goat (scientific name: Hircus Blythi Goat) commonly found in Asian Highlands, especially Mongolia, China, Tibet and Afghanistan. In these zones, high temperature excursions between day and night encourage the underfur growth also referred to as duvet.

The transformation processes involved in the making of cloth fabrics are usually very delicate and they are mainly hand-made.The processes include harvesting, selection, washing, spinning and knitting. This, together with the provenience ‘ long distance, explain the high price of this very fine material. You can read all about it on their website and I’d encourage you to do so simply to understand the origins of your clothes.

There is so much to love about what Italy in Cashmere do and the lengths they go to, to protect their production process. So what are the garments like?

Soft! And extremely warm. Oh. So. Warm. On a freezing cold day in Melbourne I can leave the house wearing say the short sleeve oversized batwing sweater pictured below with just a coat (so no other layers which is unheard of in Melbourne!) and be warm as toast.

They use simple cuts in a pared back palette, making the fabric the hero of the garment. I can honestly say these are some of the most beautiful clothes to ever come across my desk, and in 11 years of publishing, thats a lot of clothes! I feel good about them because I know they’ve been ethically made with love, hopefully you love them too.