Cashmere guide
Can You Wear Cashmere in Summer?
Yes, in cool air, but not in real heat. Cashmere is lovely in air conditioning, on planes and on summer evenings, but once you sweat it holds the moisture and dries slowly.
What decides it is fabric weight, not the fibre. Our three sweaters are winter weights, so think of them as the layer you carry for when it cools down.
Why cashmere works in cool air
Three things do the work. None of them is thickness.
- It is very fine. At 12–16 micron, a gram of cashmere holds far more fibres than a gram of lambswool. More fibres trap more still air, and still air keeps you warm. So thin cashmere is warm without weight.
- It handles moisture vapour. Cashmere is keratin, like hair. It takes water vapour into the fibre and lets it go as the air dries. So it feels dry in a cold office, where a fleece feels swampy.
- It does not prickle. Prickle comes from stiff fibre ends pressing into your skin. Below about 30 micron, the ends bend instead. Cashmere at 12–16 micron is well under that, so you can wear it on bare skin.
Why it fails in real heat
The same properties turn against you. Cashmere soaks moisture into the fibre: great for vapour, poor for sweat. Once you really sweat, it takes it up and dries slowly.
Wet cashmere is heavy, and a wet knit stretches. The shoulders drop and the body grows, which can spoil a good sweater in one afternoon.
Linen and open-weave cotton move sweat outwards and let it evaporate. In 32 °C sunshine they beat cashmere every time.
Put simply: cashmere is a cool-weather fibre that copes unusually well at the warm end of its range. It is not a hot-weather fibre.
The number that actually decides it
Whether a cashmere garment works in summer comes down to fabric weight, in grams per square metre (GSM), and then ply. A single-ply, lightweight cashmere tee is a real warm-weather garment. A four-ply cable knit is not. The fibre is the same in both.
We have not published ours
| Fibre | 100% cashmere, Grade A |
|---|---|
| Fibre diameter | 12–16 micron |
We do not publish a GSM for our sweaters. They are made as winter sweaters. Our workshop describes the V-neck as thin, so start there if summer wear matters to you.
Six places it earns its keep in summer
All six are cool air inside a warm season.
- An air-conditioned office. The most common one. A building cooled for a crowd is cold for one person sitting still.
- Aeroplanes. Cabin air is cold and very dry, exactly where cashmere helps.
- Summer evenings. The drop after sunset is what a light sweater is for.
- Altitude. Mountains are cold at night, even in August. Our fibre comes from goats herded above 3,000 metres for that reason.
- Coastal fog and wind. A July evening on a cold coast is not a July evening.
- Restaurants, cinemas, trains. Anywhere someone else sets the thermostat.
So a summer cashmere sweater is one you carry more than you wear, over your arm or in a bag. Light weight and a knit that does not crease badly matter more than warmth.
What our three sweaters are, in the catalogue’s own words
Our workshop describes the crew neck as lightweight for warmth and the V-neck as thin cashmere, lightweight, perfect for winter. In other words, these are winter sweaters that happen to be thin.
For warm weather, pick the Men's V-Neck Cashmere Sweater. It is the one described as thin, and the open V lets heat out at the neck, which is where you feel too warm first. 13 colourways, S–2XL, $155.
That is Olive, our only green. A dark, saturated knit looks wintry whatever it weighs, but Olive is muted enough to wear like a neutral. See Green Cashmere Sweaters for Men. The dusty Sky Blue on Blue Cashmere Sweaters for Men is another shade that does not shout winter.
The Men's Crew Neck Cashmere Sweater is the same weight with a closed collar: better in real cold, warmer than you want on a mild day. The Men's Quarter Zip Cashmere Sweater is the most adjustable, because you can open the zip to cool your neck. It comes in one free size only: 65 cm long, 50 cm across the chest, 60 cm sleeve.
Wearing it in warm weather without ruining it
- Put something thin underneath. Not for warmth. It keeps sweat and skin oils out of the cashmere, so you wash it less. A fine cotton or merino tee is enough. More on What to Wear Under a Sweater.
- Keep the sleeves down. Pushing them up in the heat bags out the cuffs, and the forearm is already one of the first places to pill.
- Do not wear it two days running. The fibre needs a day to recover its loft, and rested fibre tangles less.
- Air it instead of washing it, when you can. A night laid flat in moving air is usually enough.
- When you do wash it: by hand, 30 °C max, gentle wool detergent, no wringing. Reshape it damp and dry it flat out of direct sun. Not in the machine.
Summer wear means more rubbing against bare skin, so expect a little more pilling early on. That is normal and it settles. Does Cashmere Pill? explains why, and how to comb pills off without cutting the fibre.
Storing it through the months you do not
Clothes-moth larvae eat keratin, and they go for fibre with skin oils, food or sweat on it. A sweater put away dirty in May is the one with holes in October.
- Wash it before storage, not after. This matters most.
- Dry it completely. Flat, out of the sun, until the seams are dry too.
- Fold, never hang. A season on a hanger stretches the shoulders for good.
- Seal it. A closed box or zipped bag beats an open shelf. Cedar and lavender smell nice, but the sealed container does the work.
- Check it once mid-summer. Damage found in July is a wash. Damage found in October is a repair.
The out-of-season argument nobody makes
Most cashmere is bought in a rush in December. Buying in spring or summer is easier. You have time to measure a sweater you already own against the Men's Cashmere Sweater Size Guide & Fit and wait for the colour you want. Ours ship from Pokhara, Nepal and usually take 7–15 days plus any customs time, so ordering early takes the pressure off.
So yes, you can wear cashmere in summer, in the conditions above. The full range is on Men's Cashmere Sweaters, and the thin one is the Men's V-Neck Cashmere Sweater at $155. For where the fibre comes from, see Himalayan Cashmere Sweaters, Made in Pokhara.
Common questions
Can you wear cashmere in summer?
Yes, in cool air: an air-conditioned office, a plane, a summer evening or anywhere at altitude. In real heat it is a poor choice, because cashmere holds sweat and dries slowly. Fabric weight matters more than the fibre.
Is cashmere hot to wear?
Cashmere is warm for its weight, not hot in itself. A thin cashmere sweater is about as warm as a thicker one in coarser wool. Under a jacket in July it will be too warm, like anything else.
Does cashmere breathe?
Yes. Cashmere takes moisture vapour into the fibre and lets it go again, so it does not feel clammy. It is bad at shedding sweat, though. Once wet, it stays wet, gets heavy and stretches.
Can you wear a cashmere sweater with nothing underneath?
Yes. At 12–16 micron it will not prickle. The catch is washing: sweat and skin oils go straight into the fibre, and every wash is by hand at 30 °C max. A thin layer underneath means you wash the sweater less often.
How should I store cashmere over the summer?
Wash it before you put it away. Moth larvae go for soiled fibre, so a clean sweater in a sealed box is far safer than a worn one in an open drawer. Fold it, never hang it.