Scottish Cashmere Club
Heritage & Craft
Cashmere is extraordinary. It is has a softness and handle beyond compare - warm and gossamer light, tactile, sensuous and lustrous. This rare fibre, combed from the fine under-fleece of Cashmere goats, was first woven centuries ago in India for the shawls of Moguls, emperors and royalty, desired by those who could have anything, from Julius Caesar to Queen Victoria who imported her pashminas from Kashmir. Garments bearing the Scottish Cashmere Club branding are even more extraordinary. Devotion to quality and the artisan’s care and attention to detail, underlie the unrivalled luxury of the products. Centuries of heritage, skills and craftsmanship combine with an innate understanding of colour and design. Cashmere weaving in Scotland began in 1797 at Johnstons, now the only mill in the UK to carry out the entire process from raw fibre to finished garment. In the 1870s, businessman and genesis of Dawson International, Joseph Dawson, travelled to Inner Mongolia – where the best raw Cashmere was from and still is – to watch peasant women separate the fine under-fleece from the rough outer hair, by hand. He then invented a mechanised process, making him the leading Cashmere trader and putting his spinning and knitwear companies, including Todd & Duncan at Kinross, at the forefront of Cashmere manufacture for the next century and beyond. Today, the Scottish mills are world leaders, because the specialised knowledge and skills are all deeply rooted in Scotland.
