Cashmere, Lambswool, Silk and Alpaca: Reading the Label

The Johnstons of Elgin Home collection is built from four fibres. Some throws use one alone; others blend them so that each contributes what it does best. Reading the composition label tells you a great deal about how a throw will feel and behave.

Cashmere

Cashmere is the fine undercoat of the cashmere goat. It is prized for softness and for warmth out of all proportion to its weight, which is why it is used pure across the Plain, Reversible, Umbra, Yarrow, Lofty Twill, Mountain Twill and Art Geometric throws and the Art Geometric cushion.

Lambswool

Lambswool brings body, spring and resilience. It holds a crisp check or a tweed pattern beautifully and stands up to everyday use, which is why the Tweed Glen Check, Block Border, Doubleface Check and Blanket Stitched Doubleface Check throws are woven in 100% wool. Double-faced construction gives two complete faces, finished with flat seams, turned hems and mitred corners.

Silk and alpaca

Silk adds lustre and a cool, smooth hand; alpaca adds loft and a soft halo to the surface. Neither is used alone in the collection — both appear in the Luxury Texture throw alongside cashmere.

The blends

Luxury Texture is 82% cashmere, 10% silk and 8% alpaca, giving a deep, boucle-like surface. The blanket-stitched Geometric throw is 66% wool and 34% cashmere: the wool keeps the colour blocks sharp and the edges firm, the cashmere softens the hand. The Stripe throw is 90% wool and 10% cashmere, a hard-wearing cloth with a softer touch.

A blend is not a compromise. It is a choice about character — how much drape, how much structure, how much lustre — and each one in the collection is made for a particular kind of use.