Cashmere is obtained from the fine downy hair of the cashmere goat, which lives in the highlands of Asia at altitudes of up to 4000m. This undercoat is soft, supple and very elastic, and is shed from the skin every spring, allowing it to be carefully combed out.
The coarser outer hairs then have to be sorted out of this wool: only about 80-200 grams of the finest undercoat are produced per animal per year, which is then spun into yarn in a complex process.
