Cashmere yarn is one of the world’s most luxurious fibres. The downy wool comes from the underbelly of the goat. Each goat only produces around 100g of the fibre each year so it can take up to 3 or 4 to make one garment. The fibre is gently combed from the goat during its normal moulting season, usually late spring to early summer.

Before being spun into yarn, the cashmere fibre has to be dehaired, a process where any coarse hairs are removed.

Izzy Lane cashmere comes from British herds of goats. The British production started in 1983. The goats were feral ones and had escaped domesticity hundreds of years ago, they were found living on the north west coast of Scotland, Galloway, Holy Island and in the Kielder forest. Farmers were encouraged to look at cashmere production in order to diversify. Today there are only around 12 cashmere herds in Britain, mainly in Scotland and they are cared for in small groups of between 6 and 60 animals. The whole annual UK production barely exceeds 100 kilos. As well as producing the fibre they are extremely useful ecologically, improving land and keeping weeds under control. The herds which provide us with our cashmere are scattered. Some are in the Grampians, some Midlothian and the Borders and others further down in southern England. We do not and would not import from Asia. The goats here are kept to very high welfare standards.