The best cashmere sweaters, tried and tested by style editors

A luxury crewneck that's priced accessibly and goes pinch everything. It's made from Grade-A cashmere that's truthful ray and soft, you tin moreover slumber successful it.

This mock cervix style is made pinch 100% Mongolian cashmere and is wholly free of dyes aliases bleaches. If you're keen connected shopping organic, Gobi offers different cashmere accessories to match.

Best overall: Naadam

Best affordable cashmere: Quince

Best for transparency: Gobi

Best oversized cashmere sweaters: Guest In Residence

Best minimalist designs: Everlane

Everlane is 1 of our favourite places to bargain each kinds of high-quality basics. Their cashmere sweater offerings see subtle updates connected accepted styles pinch a awesome value tag. Everlane's Grade-A Mongolian cashmere runs from $110 to $230 successful sizes XXS to XL.

Best trendy designs: Reformation

Reformation offers a scope of trend-forward silhouettes, contempt nan brand's sizing leaving thing to beryllium desired. Despite this, nan youthful marque puts sustainability astatine nan forefront by offsetting c emissions and recycling aliases donating textile scraps. Their 90/10 Cashmere statement offers fashion-forward pieces for illustration cropped sweaters, arsenic good arsenic timeless basics for illustration turtlenecks and cardigans, made from 90% post-industrial recycled cashmere. 

Best luxury grade: Eileen Fisher

Best alpaca wool: Peruvian Connection

Though alpaca wool sweaters are made of a wholly different worldly than nan cashmere harvested from nan undercoat of goats, they're worthy mentioning connected this database considering some are people regenerative resources. Alpaca wool whitethorn besides service arsenic a cozy replacement to those pinch cashmere allergies. 

Peruvian Connection claims to travel nan protocol of "The Technical Norms for Shearing and Handling Alpaca Fiber Fleece" approved by nan Peruvian Ministry of Production that enforces ethical curen of nan animals. Their warm, soft sweaters travel successful your modular coagulated knit pullovers successful sizes XS-XL, pinch much options successful colorful, accepted Peruvian patterns that salary tribute to nan root of nan alpaca wool sweater.

Best recycled cashmere: Patagonia

Patagonia is simply a beloved B-corp unit company astir group admit for signature fleeces, but their exemplary sustainability standards besides widen to their recycled cashmere collection. Each portion consists of 95% cashmere scraps collected from European garment factories, which is past woven pinch 5% virgin wool for added strength. 

The 4 styles of their mini but mighty postulation of cashmere sweaters (crewneck, turtleneck, and 2 cardigans) are disposable successful sizes XS-XL.

Most unsocial designs: Leret Leret

If you're looking to splurge connected a genuinely unsocial piece, Leret Leret has whimsical designs woven into expertly constructed finance pieces.The luxury shop specializes exclusively successful cashmere and offers a slew of memorable designs while besides offering simpler patterns, for illustration stripes aliases checkers. Each $475-$575 sweater is simply a limited-edition piece, truthful beryllium judge to drawback your favourite while you can. The unisex sweaters are disposable successful sizes XXS to XXL.

Best colour selection: J. Crew

J.Crew is your one-stop shop for nan champion cashmere sweaters that spell beyond your mean camel-colored pullovers. Yes, you tin return your prime of classical colors astatine J.Crew's Cashmere Shop, but if it's a agleam aliases unsocial colour you're after, you're still successful nan correct place.

J.Crew is nan first US personnel of nan Aid by Trade Foundation, which helps beforehand sustainable cultivation improvement — including sustainable cashmere accumulation — and is certified nether nan AbTF's The Good Cashmere Standard. We besides emotion nan brand's inclusive size range, pinch sweaters sizing up to a 3XL (size 24).

Best size inclusivity: Lands' End

If you're much willing successful classic, humble styles of women's cashmere sweaters, Lands' End is nan spot to grow your selection. Their 2 ply cashmere is connected nan much costly side, but nan marque hosts income often. Another pro: Lands' End offers a larger size scope than galore different cashmere sweater brands connected nan market. 

How I tested cashmere sweaters

Warmth. The champion measurement I find nan warmth of a cashmere sweater is by wearing it straight connected my tegument without immoderate layers interfering. Cashmere is people insulating, truthful nan finer nan knit, nan amended it is astatine trapping my assemblage heat. When wearing cashmere arsenic a apical layer, I consciousness for wherever it's letting successful acold air, which tends to beryllium either astatine nan neckline aliases sleeves. If it's excessively debased a gauge aliases loose successful either area, it won't protect from nan cold.

Pilling. Pilling is earthy pinch moreover nan highest value cashmere, but I recovered that sweaters pinch a little gauge (including nan Quince Fisherman Sweater) pill overmuch faster. I utilized a cashmere comb to springiness it a refresh, taking attraction not to agelong it retired arsenic I pulled it done nan fibers.

Cashmere Sweater FAQs

What is cashmere? 

Cashmere is simply a thin, soft, and finely textured knit cloth made from nan fibers brushed from nan undercoat of cashmere goats. It gets its sanction from nan Kashmir region of bluish India and is chopped from nan fibers harvested from sheep that make wool. Even though they're related materials, cashmere is 3 times much insulating than wool. It's besides people much breathable.

Why is cashmere truthful expensive? 

The much costly a cashmere sweater is, nan much you tin denote from its laborious brushing and accumulation process.

Cashmere is only collected arsenic small arsenic erstwhile a year, depending connected nan area, and it tin return astir 4-5 afloat grown cashmere goats to make conscionable 1 sweater. The goats' hairsbreadth is brushed into "tops." Luxury brands for illustration Loro Piana and Brunello Cucinelli bid connected nan premium tops, which are nan cleanest and palest successful color.

In nan US, cashmere must meet a definite criteria:

• The mean diameter of nan fibre cannot transcend 19 micrometers. 
• The merchandise cannot incorporate much than 3% by weight of cashmere fibers pinch mean diameters that transcend 30 micrometers.

100% cashmere is much sustainable than, say, polyester. Still, it does return a toll connected nan environment, and nan disposable amount relies connected nan well-being of goat herds, their habitat, and their caretakers. As pinch immoderate people regenerative resource, paying much intends investing successful nan value of life for those who nutrient it.

How should I shop my cashmere sweaters?

Hanging cashmere sweaters will make them stretch, truthful you should alternatively support them folded successful a drawer. But beware: this is precisely wherever quiet moths tin beryllium recovered lying successful wait. Keep them astatine bay pinch cedar blocks to forestall them from chewing holes done your cashmere clothing.