Belisa Cashmere

Belisa Cashmere has joined the Canberra Wool Expo every year. Expect cashmere jumpers, scarves, jackets, beanies, and cardigans in different styles for men and women. In addition, they offer an extensive range of crafting supplies. These include de-haired cashmere, natural and hand-dyed yarn in a range of colours with the option for a pattern to complete the knitting experience. A made to measure service on select products is also offered at no extra charge.

Belisa Cashmere began 30 years ago and they are proud to be the only company in Australia that goes from “goats to garments.” They grow the cashmere, they process it into yarn, and they’ve sold it at the Old Bus Depot Markets for 25 years.

Cashmere is a word that we see a lot these days at fashion stores. However Belisa Cashmere Owner Stan Cooper does one better by familiarising with the fabric while it’s at its freshest. ” Cashmere is the down that grows on the cashmere goat from the longest day to the shortest day,” says Stan. “Then it is shorn through a machine in which it separates the goat from the cashmere down. The cashmere down is what we have spun into yarn and into the garments.”

“The Canberra Wool Expo has always been a good day for cashmere”

While down grows on most goats during autumn and winter, the cashmere goats are bred for the finest cashmere. Cashmere is the world’s finest commercial fibre. It exhibits a finer down and a different fibre structure making it warmer than wool while only half the weight. “If you had two garments of the same size and same design and measured the same way, a cashmere garment would be lighter than the woollen garment and it would weigh less,” says Stan. “And it would keep you warmer than the woollen garment.”

Cashmere, like wool, is classed on micron and fibre length. The best cashmere produced in Australia is about 14.5 to 18 micron. For an average customer Stan recommends identifying high quality cashmere yarn by examining how it feels and how it looks. “When customers feel it, they can feel that it is softer than a woollen garment which they may be comparing it to,” says Stan. “If it starts to peel after being worn two or three times, that is a sign of poor quality cashmere up against the cashmere that we produce.”

“The Canberra Wool Expo has always been a good day for cashmere,” says Stan. “It is also a good day for the general public because they get to see a large variety of variety of finished products as well as woollen yarns, and there’s always something there for them to buy. Be early because the bargains won’t last.”

See Belisa Cashmere at the Canberra Wool Expo on 18-19 May. Don’t hesitate to contact Stan at belisacashmere@bigpond.com or on 0427-334 456 for any enquiries about their products.

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