Designers’ hopes ride on scarcity value of yak hair
Posted by Lucky on Jan 2, 2010
When something becomes common it can no longer be in fashion. Cashmere, for so long fashionably uncommon, has become about as rare as shell suits. So no wonder that top-tier companies such as Yves Saint Laurent and Arnys — easily the swankiest of all French menswear houses — are flirting with Norlha’s yak hair yarn as a satisfyingly unobtainable alternative.
Not long ago cashmere, the material woven from the spring moult of Tibetan goats, was noted as much for its scarceness as its softness. This enabled cashmere to become a byword for luxury.
Now high street retailers such as Uniqlo and Marks & Spencer offer all-cashmere sweaters for barely more than £50. For many of us this is something to be celebrated. Sadly, though, there is a downside. The chief executive of one of the world’s biggest cashmere traders recently told me that this glut of affordable cashmere is due to an explosion of irresponsible production in China.
Poorly stewarded factories are causing water pollution, while the ever-increasing goat population that has fuelled the cashmere boom is helping to turn Tibet into desert.
