Many people associate cashmere with clothing and they would be correct to do so, but this luxurious wool was also used for many other purposes centuries ago.

Despite its softness to the touch on the beautifully crafted garments that you associate with this particular type of wool, in the 16th century it was often woven together to make many things and have many uses, including reigns for horses.

Cashmere is an extremely strong material and before being recognised as the perfect fabric to make luxury items of clothing with, it was used to make rope with which to use in everyday situations. The Fire services used it for hoisting carriages from wreckages in order to free trapped civilians; they also used rope made from this goat’s wool for many other purposes.

Cashmere is obtained from the Kashmir goat in the spring months when the goats shed their winter fur. In the 18th and 19th centuries cashmere was mainly used for the production of shawls in Turkestan, reaching Western Europe by the 19th century.

The French loved cashmere so much that they became the first European city to produce cashmere garments in bulk and this wool type remains one of the fabrics of choice for many fashion designers, not only in France but across the world.

In fact this particular type of wool is now synonymous with luxury and is often worn by the world’s biggest celebrities including Hollywood stars Jessica Alba, Jennifer Aniston and Ashlee Simpson who have all been snapped wearing garments made by this most famous and renowned type of wool recently.

No matter what fashion trends come and go cashmere will always remain in vogue simply because of its class: it is luxurious its touch, feel and particularly the way that the material looks, and of course because it wears well with little bobbling despite being such a soft fabric.

The way the fabric sits on the body is so distinctive from a material that is gentle and complements the lines of those wearing it which baffles me as to how many portly bespoke gentlemen wear it.

Fashion trends change very often - there is a distinct 80s feel to fashion at present, which wouldn’t necessarily incorporate cashmere but then as it is never out of fashion that is not a problem: it will continue to be sought after around the world, but only to wear, not to pull horses.

Thomas Pretty is an historian with many years of experience writing about the origins of materials. Find out more about cashmere at http://www.ilovecashmere.co.uk/

[tags]cashmere[/tags]