Planet Earth Cashmere Beanie

While we use the most advanced man-made materials on Earth to build our clothing, we also like to use the most advanced materials nature makes too. And cashmere is one of them. It’s an exceptionally fine natural fibre that’s built to survive extreme mountain conditions, while remaining light, breathable and comfortable. Fibre for fibre, it’s still one of the most efficient insulation systems on the planet.

Our cashmere comes from a breed of goat that lives high in the mountains of Mongolia, Northern China, Nepal and Kashmir – regions that are defined by harsh temperatures, brutal winds, and dramatic seasonal changes. While the local humans built yurts to protect themselves from the elements, cashmere goats developed a rugged outer fleece that protects an undercoat of ultralight, ultrasoft and ultrawarm fibres. 

Known as ‘The Golden Fleece,’ cashmere is one of the world’s softest and rarest materials. While most sheep will produce around 3kg of wool each year, a cashmere goat will only grow about 200 grams. That’s because they only shed their fleece once a year, and the softest fibres that we use are only combed from their underbellies. 

To build the Planet Earth Cashmere Beanie, we’ve stuck to materials produced by nature. We engineered a yarn that blends 47% cashmere, 31% baby alpaca and 20% silk, with each fibre doing a different job. Cashmere brings softness and thermal efficiency. Baby alpaca adds loft and insulation without adding mass. Silk adds strength, improves drape and holds the fabric together over time. Together they create a beanie that is incredibly soft, warm, and elastic. 

We use baby alpaca fibres to add warmth and volume. Its fibres are naturally hollow, which makes them very good at trapping air to keep you warm. Compared to sheep’s wool, alpaca fibres contain less lanolin and have a smoother surface, so they feel much softer on your skin. The silk we use for strength. It improves abrasion resistance, increases long term durability, and helps the beanie spring back into shape.  

This beanie doesn’t use chemical finishes or performance coatings. Everything it does comes down to incredible natural materials, yarn structure and manufacturing. Together the cashmere, alpaca and silk regulate temperature, manage moisture and retain warmth naturally. We add 2% elastane to provide stretch and recovery, so the beanie never loses its shape.