“The winter sun —
On the horse’s back
My frozen shadow”
Oi no kobumi (Knapsack Journals),1687-1688
Matsuo Bashō
Some of you have had the joy of recurrently benefiting from our bespoke cashmere knitwear services, either for yourselves or your beloved ones. But your most refined knitted garments, commonly known to be anciently reserved to royalty, still conceals unexpected facts that might surprise you.
Did you know this precious textile was first imported in our parts of Europe by the French man Jean-Baptiste Decrétot? Sheets makers of the most Scandinavian land of France, Normandy, Monsieur Decrétot brought in his discovery during the beginning of the XIXth century. Some of you could, however, argue that the most surprising aspect of this information is probably that French people are not bragging about it. Yet.
Yours truly, author of this article, being French, I'll make sure to alert my compatriots on this omission. But for now, let's dive in our making process, from raw material sourcing to your final garment.
Although cashmere refers to the Indian region where the fabric was originally weaved, the goats producing this incredibly soft and fine fiber (six times thinner than a human hair!) are actually located on the Himalayan highlands of Ladakh and in Tibet where temperatures can go down to minus 40C°.
It takes up to 4 goats to create a single knitwear garment, adding rarity to an already onerous piece to craft. This is certainly part of the reason why Cashmere is often wrongly judged fragile. That, combined to the past trauma of destroying your favorite knitted piece with water too warm, has created a wave of PTSD to a whole generation identifying ever after the said water as a weapon of mass destruction when it's, in fact, quite the other way around.
Cashmere fiber loves (cold!) water. A gentle bath with adapted detergent now and then will actually extend your garment's life and proper appearance over time.
Way closer to us than the Himalayan heights, in Perugia, capital of Umbria, the tale of Roberto and his wife's hardship to revitalize their secular artisan heritage became a local pride. Their audacity paid to deliver the finest and most durable cashmere knitted items the world can provide.
Frederik found in them the missing piece to the unique in Scandinavia bespoke knitwear service he built for A.W. Bauer.
Our long relationship since then has filled us with utmost pride towards the exquisite pieces we conceive to be worn with ease and elegance.
If you are new to this rare bespoke cashmere service we provide, here is what to remember:
- The garment, along with every aspect of it, is decided and designed in our Atelier, based on our Clientele wishes and measures, carefully taken by Frederik himself.
- Your piece is then created in our Italian division in Perugia, strong of more than 60 years of experience, and sent back to Stockholm for the final fitting before delivery.
- The cashmere used to create our knitwear is the finest available, directly imported and minusciously inspected in our Italian Atelier.
Imagination is your limit. With our bespoke service, any type of garment is virtualy possible to make based on your precise measures, always making it the best fitted knitwear you could ever wear. A simple visit at the Atelier will let you experience first-hand this luxury.
Built with care, made to last.
J.U
