That's Not Cashmere
Did You Know? The Cashmere your grand mom bought and the the cashmere we have today are not the same.
The Story goes back to 19th century. When the beautiful Kashmiri Shawls were introduced to the west. These Cashmere (the names derives from Kashmir) were the choice of Kings & Queens. These were the real Cashmere.
So What's the difference?
To put it simply, the breed of goat. Today, most Cashmere are manufactured in Inner Asia. These Cashmere come from Mongolian Cashmere Goats. They are of great quality.
However, the original Cashmere which came from Changthangi (type of goat) were much more finer and soft. Unlike Mongolia, the habitat of this type of goat are cold even during the summer. This meant the quality of Cashmere, which is directly proportional to temperature, was of higher quality.
Nevertheless, mass production of Mongolian Cashmere after opening up of China meant Changthangi Cashmere became infeasible to produce due to high cost. This led to the rapid decline of supply of these kind of Cashmere.
The world switched from one fiber to another without even knowing the truth.