Loro Piana: The Quiet Power of Cashmere

From Mongolian steppes to Italian ateliers, the maison’s fibre of choice tells a story of heritage, innovation, and quiet luxury — captured in exclusive assets

Fashion has always thrived on moments – those pivots in time when a house, a silhouette, or even a single accessory defines an era. Designers come and go, trends burn bright before fading, but every so often, a brand once considered niche or discreet moves into the spotlight. In recent years, Loro Piana has been that brand. Was it the viral loafers spotted on every street-style circuit? The strategic recalibration that followed LVMH’s 2013 acquisition? Or perhaps the swell of the “quiet luxury” movement, where understatement became the loudest statement of all? Whatever the catalyst, Loro Piana has become a watchword for connoisseurship, a name spoken softly yet recognised instantly.

At the heart of its rise lies a fibre that has shaped the maison’s identity for decades: cashmere. To call it the cornerstone of Loro Piana’s DNA is no exaggeration. It’s their legacy that begins in the remote landscapes of Inner Mongolia and Mongolia, where the underfleece of the Capra Hircus goat provides a fibre so scarce that one animal yields barely enough for a scarf each year.

Pier Luigi Loro Piana’s first journey to China in 1986 set the foundation for partnerships that went beyond supply chains, establishing bonds with herders and local communities who hold centuries of knowledge in their care. In return, the maison brought its own vision: that excellence wasn’t an act of extraction but of collaboration, one that could elevate both the fibre and the people behind it.

This philosophy has been institutionalised over the decades. In 2009, the Loro Piana Method was introduced – an ambitious programme designed not just to preserve but to refine the fineness of cashmere fibres, protecting the heritage of the Alashan goat while raising the bar for the industry. The Cashmere of the Year Award, launched in 2015, went a step further, celebrating the herders whose work has since pushed the fibre to levels once thought unattainable. By 2024, new records were being set, with fibres measuring just 12.8 microns in fineness – a quiet revolution woven into the fabric itself.

But heritage is only half the story while the other half is innovation. In 2025, Loro Piana unveiled ‘Resilient Threads’, a programme created in partnership with the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and the Sustainable Fibre Alliance. Rooted in Mongolia’s fragile Eastern Steppe, one of the last untouched grasslands in the world, the initiative focuses on biodiversity and the livelihoods of local herders, weaving sustainability into the narrative of luxury. Alongside it came ‘Smart Bales’, an unexpected foray into transparency and technology: cashmere tracked and digitised from the mountainous plains to Italian ateliers, offering consumers an unprecedented look at its journey.

For all the progress and pioneering, the final word is still tactile. There’s a reason Loro Piana cashmere is spoken of in reverent tones: the hand-feel, the sensorial weightlessness, the way it bridges luxury and intimacy. It has become more than a material, but a symbol of how fashion’s quietest stories – told through fibre, through herders, through generational know-how – can end up shaping its loudest conversations.

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