Cashmere (English term) or cashmere (French term) is a highly prized textile fiber obtained from the hair of Hircus Goat, native to the mountainous regions and the highlands of Asia. Its name derives from the historical region of Kashmir, currently divided between India, Pakistan and China, the area of ​​origin of this fabric, which is exported to Europe since the beginning of the 19th century. When touched, cashmere is soft, soft and velvety. Once worn it produces a pleasant sensation of warmth.

It takes particular climatic conditions to breed this kind of goats, with strong changes in temperature between day and night which favor the development of a down called duvet, the softest and most woolly layer of their coat. This down (as indeed all animal fibers) has a thermo-regulatory function for the body of the goat in comparison to the external environment, protecting it from both low and high temperatures. To obtain this precious fiber, the coat is manually combed during the moulting season, which takes place in spring. The production of cashmere is on average between 100 and 200 grams of fine hair for each adult animal.

Today, world production of cashmere is estimated at around 6500 tons per year, equivalent to almost 20,000 tons of raw material. China is the world's leading producer, with about 10 thousand tons of fabric; Mongolia, the historic home of this fiber, which produces more than 3 thousand tons a year, follows China; other significant producers are India, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey and other Central Asian countries. Finally, there are some cashmere goat breedings also in Australia and New Zealand, in the United States and even in Italy, which is the world's first transformer of raw cashmere in precious cashmere.

The term merino, or merinos, derives from a breed of sheep that is appreciated above all for its fleece, from which a very fine and precious wool is obtained. It seems that this name derives from the Merinid dynasty, which ruled over Morocco during the Middle Ages and invaded the Iberian Peninsula several times. Certainly, modern merino wool comes from a kind of sheep bred in Spain in the 12th century. The industrial production of merino wool fabrics for clothes had a strong impulse in the second post-war period. Among the main reasons, there is the need for clergy to wear certain clothes in all seasons, including summer.

Each specimen of merino sheep can produce up to 10 kg of very fine wool. Merino wool is particularly sought after due to its fineness, depending on the fact that the hair of a merino sheep is generally much thinner than the hair of a common sheep. A similar feature, added to the other qualities of wool in general, makes this type of fiber unique, ideal for certain clothing, especially for men. A merino wool suit is in fact resistant to wear and tear like a common wool suit, but unlike this, being lighter, it can be worn even in the hottest seasons. The fabric known as familiarly fresh wool or even four-season wool is generally made of merino wool.

Wool is the most common of natural textile fibers of animal origin. It is obtained from the fleece of sheep, from some types of goats, rabbits, camelids (such as camels, llamas, vicuña, alpacas), yaks and Tibetan antelope (Shahtoosh); it is even obtained - in minor productions - from some breeds of dogs (for example chiengora). With an excellent thermal insulation, it offers a wide range of qualities, as many as the different species of animals from which it comes.

The best wools can reach single strands with a diameter of 15 microns, a level of quality that sometimes allows them to compete with the finest cashmere (which is not a wool in the strict sense, but represents a separate textile fiber). Among the different types of wool, which differ in fineness and length of the fiber, the superior quality is the aforementioned merino wool. Remaining among the fibers of ovine origin, another precious wool as well as particularly soft is the Shetland, produced in Great Britain. Lambswool instead consists of wool obtained from the first shearing of the lamb. The puppy of the sheep, usually shorn around 4 months of life, presents a particularly appreciated fleece for its softness and stands out thanks to a wavy fiber that adapts to workings of great value.