Cashmere is one of the few things a man can buy where the word on the label tells you almost nothing. Two sweaters can both say "100% cashmere" and be entirely different garments: one that pills in a month and loses its shape by spring, and one that softens over ten winters and gets handed down. The difference is decided long before the knitting starts, and most of it you can check with your hands.
Start with the fibre, not the brand
Cashmere is the fine underdown a goat grows against winter and sheds in spring. The best of it comes from goats living through genuinely hard cold, which is why the high plateaus of Inner Mongolia have set the standard for so long. A harsh climate produces a finer, longer fibre; a mild one produces something coarser and shorter.
Fibre is graded by its diameter and length. Grade A is the finest and longest, usually around 14 to 15.5 microns and 34 millimetres or more. Grade B and C are thicker and shorter. A thicker fibre feels less soft against the skin; a shorter one slips loose from the yarn and shows up later as pilling. Length matters more than most buyers realise, because it is length, not softness, that decides how a sweater behaves after the first wash.
Few brands print the grade. If a brand can tell you where its cashmere comes from and what grade it is, that is a good sign. If the answer is vague, assume the fibre is too.
The hand test
Hold the knit between thumb and fingers and press. Good cashmere has a dry, dense softness, with a slight spring when you release. It should not feel slick or soapy. That slippery finish is often a sign the yarn has been over-softened with chemical treatments to hide a coarser fibre, and it washes out.
Then look at the surface in good light. A new sweater should have a very fine, even halo of fibre, barely there. A thick fuzz on a garment that has never been worn means short fibres are already working loose.
Stretch a small section gently and let go. It should return to shape. If it stays slack, the yarn is loosely spun or the knit is too open, and the garment will grow at the elbows and hem.
Weight is not quality, but it tells you something
A sweater can be knitted with one strand of yarn or two. Single-ply is lighter and finer; two-ply is denser, warmer and more durable. Neither is better in the abstract. A two-ply crewneck is the better choice for a piece you want to wear for years, because the extra strand gives the knit structure and resists pilling. A very light cashmere at a very low price is usually single-ply and knitted loosely, which is why it feels like nothing and lasts about as long.
How it is made matters as much as what it is made of
Most knitwear is cut from a flat sheet of fabric and sewn together, like a shirt. Better knitwear is fully fashioned: each panel is knitted to shape, including the curve of the armhole and the taper of the sleeve, then the panels are linked together stitch by stitch. You can see the difference inside the garment. Cut-and-sewn seams are overlocked, with a ridge of thread. Linked seams are flat and almost invisible, and they stretch with the knit instead of fighting it.
Fully fashioning takes longer and wastes nothing, which is why it is rare at lower prices. It is also why a well-made cashmere crewneck sits cleanly at the shoulder and does not twist after washing.
Why pilling happens, and what it means
All cashmere pills a little in the first few wears. Short fibres on the surface rub together and form small balls. With good fibre and a dense knit, this stops after the first wash or two, once the loose ends are gone. With poor fibre, it never stops, because the yarn keeps shedding short pieces from inside. If a sweater is still pilling heavily after a season, the problem is the fibre, not you.
A note on price
Raw cashmere is expensive and there is no shortcut. A full-size men's crewneck needs the annual down of three to four goats. When a 100% cashmere sweater is priced close to a wool one, something has been taken out: fibre length, fibre grade, ply, or the time spent making it. The price of good cashmere reflects what is in it.
What House of Aviar uses
House of Aviar is a menswear house in Vancouver. Our cashmere crewnecks are knitted from Grade A cashmere from Inner Mongolia, fully fashioned and finished by hand, and made to be worn for a long time rather than a season. You can see the current pieces in the knitwear collection, and read more about how we think about the fibre.