While cashmere originated in Kashmir, India, the place from which it takes its name, the production and distribution of the fine fabric is now dispersed across the globe. One of the leading manufacturers of cashmere today is Joshua Ellis, located in the United Kingdom’s beautiful West Yorkshire, which has long been a center of the textile industry in its own right.
Records indicate that the English were involved in the making of cloth as early as 871 AD during the reign of Saxon King Alfred, and fabric mills had been established in the area of West Yorkshire as early as the 12th century. The popularity of this area continued to grow as entrepreneurs found its abundance of rivers ideal for building water-powered textile mills. By 1485, when Henry VII took the throne, the exportation of raw wool fiber had been replaced by the exportation of woven woolen cloth. The industry experienced fluctuations over time, and was hit especially hard by the Civil War in the mid 17th century, however by the early 1800s, Yorkshire’s wool textile industry was booming, with more and more businesses making it their new home every year. By the time of the Industrial Revolution, Yorkshire had already firmly established itself as a center of the world’s wool industry. One material for which Yorkshire would become known was cashmere. However, interestingly enough, while cashmere is popularly considered to be a type of wool, it is in fact made from the fur of Cashmere goats, which is technically a type of hair rather than a wool. The properties of the hair are what provide cashmere with its unique characteristics and softness as compared to the coarseness of sheep’s wool. Cashmere is celebrated for its fine texture, gorgeous drape, durability, and incredible softness. The process of transforming cashmere fibers into the luxurious fabric we know and love is extremely laborious process that requires extensive training. The coats of Kashmir goats consist of two layers of hair: a coarse outercoat called guard hair, and a soft undercoat often called underdown, and it can take a Kashmir goat up to four years to produce enough fiber for a single sweater. Cashmere fabric is constructed from the underdown only, and therefore an important part of Cashmere production is separating the two layers of hair. This stage of the process alone can take up two weeks, and requires skilled artisans to carefully comb through the hair to remove all of the coarse fibers. Once the underdown is separated, the fibers are spun into yarn, dyed, and woven into fabric for use in gorgeous final applications such as scarves, blankets, and sweaters. Established in Yorkshire in 1767, Joshua Ellis has been producing incredible cashmere fabrics in the United Kingdom for over 200 years. Committed to innovation and quality, Joshua Ellis has an incredible in-house sourcing team that visits Kashmir goat farms all over the world in order to source only the finest fibers. The team at Joshua Ellis includes skilled designers, weavers, and dyers who work tirelessly to create incredible and innovative fabrics that have earned them the admiration of top designers and apparel brands, many of whom have been loyal customers of Joshua Ellis for over twenty years. They release seasonal collections inspired by current trends in women’s and men’s apparel, and also work closely with clients to create inspired bespoke designs. Joshua Ellis’ commitment to excellence reflects both the glamour of cashmere and the rich history of wool production in Yorkshire.