MILAN — Cashmere’s luxury status is in peril, said executives who gathered in Prato, Italy, last month for a convention to discuss the challenges facing the sector.
The conference, organized by the Cashmere & Camel Hair Manufacturer’s Institute and the Prato Industrial Union, focused on some of the key issues threatening production of the precious fiber, including raw cashmere being mixed with wool to meet increased demand, crossbreeding of the cashmere goat and misleading garment labeling.
“The main problem we have is keeping cashmere as a true luxury and investment product, and not letting it lose its quality or image, and be compromised through cheating on fiber or downgrading the quality,” said Karl Spilhaus, CCMI president.
Italy’s textile and clothing industry has a particular interest in the cashmere industry, as it imports 35 to 40 percent of the world’s greasy cashmere — equivalent to 3.4 million kilos, or 7.5 million pounds, in 2004. According to Chinese customs, Italy imported 63 percent of China’s supply of dehaired cashmere flock in 2004, which equaled 2.6 million kilos, or 5.7 million pounds, and imported 1.2 million kilos, or 2.6 million pounds, of dehaired cashmere from China in the first half of this year. Italy exported 1.8 million articles of cashmere pullovers, cardigans and other knitted items in 2004, with a value of 122.6 million euros, or $152.4 million.
Spilhaus said CCMI was trying to implement global regulations to measure cashmere fiber quality, in addition to keeping a closer eye on the cashmere supply chain, particularly in China.
“It’s very hard to have real controls in China and there is a degradation of supply,” said Spilhaus. “So, to meet demand, some cashmere is being mixed with sheep’s wool. The goat-breeding techniques are also coming into question as they are now being crossbred with other types of goat, so the hair that is being produced is not as fine. The result is a watered-down cashmere.”
Corrado Franzi, general manager of the cashmere division of Switzerland-based yarn manufacturers The Schneider Group, said he was more concerned about misleading fiber mixes than the cashmere goat being crossbred.
“Some suppliers in China are selling a blend of fibers and leading people on about the quality of the cashmere,” said Franzi. “Now, we test every material we buy under an electronic microscope to check for wool content, but not everyone is an expert on this and it’s starting to cause problems.”
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Alvaro Brizi, president of Perugia, Italy-based Angorbrizi Textile Manufacturers, has bought raw cashmere from China for more than 20 years and has been forced to employ similar testing.
“The product we buy is analyzed four times, both in China and Europe,” Brizi said. “We have to guarantee and certify the quality of the cashmere we buy, and then sell to some of Europe’s finest yarn producers.”
Cashmere finished-product manufacturing also faces an increasing problem with counterfeiting or mislabeling of cashmere garments. CCMI is lobbying the U.S. and European governments to take action against people or companies who mislabel cashmere garments, while some pushed for an organization to safeguard the industry.
Correct garment labeling was particularly resonant to the Italian textile and clothing industry because Italy was one of the world’s most important cashmere producers, said Carlo Longo, Prato Industrial Union president.
“The main problem facing the Italian textile and yarn industry today is counterfeiting, both in product and in a product’s label,” said Longo. “Merchandise comes in through the borders and it is not being checked, so products that tout cashmere content aren’t being confirmed or approved in any way.”
Longo said the industrial union would be asking European and Italian customs for more stringent checks on imports.
Most of Italy’s cashmere is produced in the northern Biella region, along with superfine wool, but the Prato area, historically known for carded wool weaving, has begun to add more cashmere to its fabric compositions, said Longo.
Riccardo Marini, president of textile fair Prato Expo, said the area was tied to cashmere production through two Prato-based institutes that make specialized machinery to check the quality of the cashmere fiber.
“Prato is starting to appreciate more cashmere and has continued the trend of producing fabrics with more noble fibers,” said Marini.
Also discussed was the raw product’s price and increased demand. CCMI said greasy cashmere fiber prices had stabilized at a high and satisfactory level, while others noted the fiber’s price was too linked to the weak Chinese currency.
“Now cashmere costs $90 a kilo, but the price is expected to rise by 10 percent next year,” Brizi said. “So from our point of view, it’s not stable.”