Cashmere is a particularly rare and precious fibre. In fact, annual world production of cashmere is only five million kilograms. The soft, downy fabric is woven from the winter undercoats of Kashmir goats, a collection of species that hails from the Himalayan region of Kashmir. The long, fine filaments are developed by the animals to keep warm under the harshest conditions. Inner Mongolian cashmere is particularly prized given the severe cold weather of the highlands that the goats inhabit. The cashmere from this region is particularly outstanding because the fibres’ fineness (14 - 15 µ), their length and uniformity and for the particularly soft handle they give.