Fashion: Soft focus

After cashmere, lambswool will never feel quite as good again. By Rebecca Lowthorpe. Photographer: Gordon Metz

Cashmere is the stuff of fantasy, affordable only to the very wealthy, whether they be aristocrats or gangsters. For decades, it has saddled the worlds of the criminal and the twinset and pearl brigade, the godfather with his break-the-bank cashmere coat, and the grandmother with her much-loved turtle neck. It is the ultimate experience in knitwear. A good cashmere cardigan is the sort of thing that is treasured for a lifetime, lovingly folded up with the mothballs one winter and worn religiously the next.

"Once you're bitten, that's it - you can't turn back and wear anything else," says Samantha Robinson, UK retail director of TSE, the American company that specialises in cashmere and other fine knits. This season, there are double-faced cashmere wraparound skirts selling at pounds 536, simple ribbed T-shirts for pounds 335, and killer coats soaring over the pounds 1,000 mark. Alongside cashmere, TSE also produces sumptuously soft, belted cardigan jackets and eternally contemporary tunics in wool crepe.

The secret of cashmere is that it is incredibly soft, the most luxurious, comfortable and expensive fibre you could possibly wear. It's desirability and cost is boosted by its relative scarcity. Most of the world's cashmere supply comes from China, but its name comes from Kashmir in the western Himalayas where it was originally woven into intricate shawls and exported to the west in the 17th century. The fibre itself, however, came from goats in Tibet. Empress Josephine made Tibetan cashmere shawls fashionable at the turn of the 18th century.

Today, cashmere is becoming more widely accessible to a younger, more fashion-conscious market. The British designers Clements Ribeiro have funked up the old yarn by making the most desirable stripy cashmere sweaters (now their trademark) and, inevitably, this has sparked the high street into action. Great news, this, because once the demand goes up, the price comes down.

Take Marks & Spencer. The chain used to only sell cashmere in its Marble Arch store, now it's in 20 stores across the country. And it's even available over the phone from Cashmere by Design's mail order (0171-240 3652). But the yarn is still considered a luxury and it doesn't come cheap compared to, say, lambswool. But then what's pounds 99 for an M&S cashmere polo neck, when it will last a lifetime?

For the next best thing to pure cashmere, see Smedley, the British company that's making waves with merino wool. Smooth and light-weight, Smedley's merino comes in a rainbow selection of colours as well as the staple camel, cream, charcoal, and chocolate (the season's new black). Perhaps the main reason for their huge popularity is that, unlike cashmere, you can chuck them in the washing machine.

Fine lines can also be found on the high street. Martin Kidman, who designs knitwear for Joseph and Jigsaw, says: "We've done the heavy, layered thing, now we're finding more people want to look refined." Jigsaw is selling fine cashmere jumpers with slim-tie belts and neat skirts for a more co- ordinated tailored look. "Fine-gauge knits are not at all claustrophobic like the chunky old lambswool," says Kidman.

I don't know about you, but I'm starting to itch in my lambswool.

Stylist: Rachel Collins

Hair and make-up: Shama Hadi

Model: Meg

Top left: grey cashmere jumper, pounds 99, from a selection at Marks and Spencer's, branches nationwide, inquiries 0171 935-4422; charcoal-grey wool trousers, pounds 12, by Farah from Camden Market, London N1.

Bottom left: beige wool crew-neck jumper, pounds 64; black wool trousers, pounds 61, both from John Smedley, as before.

Inset: chocolate-brown cashmere polo-neck jumper, pounds 199, by TSE, from Liberty, Regent Street, London W1, inquiries 0171 263-4433.

Main picture: chocolate-brown wool cardigan, pounds 64, from John Smedley, available from Harvey Nichols, Knightsbridge, London SW1, inquiries 0171 580-5075; grey flannel trousers by Joseph, pounds 120, 77 Fulham Road, London SW3, inquiries 0171 629-4774; brown leather shoes, pounds 30, from Greenwich market, London SE10.