Cashmere, Alpaca, Camel and Llama
A Look at the Animals That Provide These Luxury Fibers
Sep 3, 2007
Luxury animal fibers used in textiles including both yarns and fabrics come from a variety of fiber producing animals. The Kashmir or Cashmere goat and the family of camelids are the source of popular, good quality fibers, sharing many qualities with that of the Angora rabbit and goat.
Kashmir or Cashmere Goat
Cashmere is thought of as a luxury fiber. It comes from the undercoat of the Kashmir goat and other Central Asian 'down goats'. The outer coat of the Kashmir goat is coarse, and therefore this has to be separated from the down prior to processing. Cashmere fiber is easily damaged during processing, which is why it is often seen in natural colors and not bleached and dyed.
All goats in theory produce cashmere, however other breeds of goat do not produce the quality nor the quantity of this soft downy fiber to make it viable to process.
Cashmere makes a fabric that is soft and warm. It is often used in coats and scarves. Pure cashmere fabric is very expensive and regarded as a luxury textile. Cashmere is more often blended with other fibers. As little as 5 percent can bring a touch of luxury to a woolen fabric or yarn.
Camelids
Camelid fibers include Alpaca, Llama and Camel. Alpaca is probably the most widely used in fabric production, producing a soft, smooth, silky fabric.
Alpaca: South America is the primary source of Alpaca fiber. Alpaca fiber is available in different grades and can range from quite coarse to very fine. Finer fibers have a sheen and are the best quality. Alpaca is often blended with other fibers such as wool to produce a hard wearing yet luxurious fabric. As with cashmere, Alpaca fiber is weakened by bleaching therefore is often available in natural shades.
Llama: Llama fiber has many of the qualities of alpaca, however there are coarse fibers within their fleece that can amount to 20% of the volume. Traditionally this made it difficult to process as the removal of the long coarse hairs was time consuming. Modern technology is addressing this and more good quality llama fiber is becoming available.
Camels: Fiber from camels is also used. This fiber again, is normally kept in its natural color. Cloth woven with camel fiber is used for coats and outer garments.
Vicuna: A further member of the camelid family is the Vicuna which is said to produce the finest animal fiber in the world. The Vicuna is small and wild. Sadly, the Vicuna has been resistant to domestication and it is often killed for its fiber although strict conservation guards are currently in place.
Further Reading:
Take a look at Farming Alpacas for more information about these fascinating animals.
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