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Is cut-price cashmere a CON The high street is awash with cheap knits – but are any of them value for money
We test Gap, Uniqlo, Mango, Marks & Spencer, Tesco, John Lewis, La Redoute and Primark

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UPDATED:

00:53 GMT, 26 November 2012

Cashmere was once a luxury item – but these days you can buy jumpers in the material in almost every High Street shop, from Primark to Tesco, John Lewis to Mango.

The cheap cashmere revolution started in 2005 when import quotas were relaxed and China started exporting huge volumes of it to the EU. The lower end of the market still tends to be dominated by fibres from Chinese goats.

Claire Coleman investigates the truth behind cut-price cashmere…

In spring, the cashmere fibres – finer and softer, yet more durable, than wool – are collected from the underbelly of the goat, by combing or shearing.

After washing, the finest, softest hair is separated from the coarser, outer guard hair. This guard hair is not considered high enough quality for many top-end manufacturers, but, according to industry expert David Mallin, of Cashmere Fibres International, it's this sort you're likely to find on the High Street.

'You get what you pay for,' he says. 'A kilo of fibre, which when spun will make three sweaters, costs around 100. If you're buying a sweater for 50, you can be fairly sure that it hasn't got the highest quality fibre in it.'

If you don't care about your jumper lasting, that might not be a problem, but pilling or bobbling tends to be just one of the issues with cheaper, shorter fibres.

'If you're using longer fibres, they tend not to pill in the same way, but short fibres easily roll themselves into balls,' says Mr Mallin.

Another way to cut costs is to knit the garment more loosely, giving a lighter garment that won't hold its shape as well.

'A traditional cashmere jumper will weigh around 300g,' says David. 'The sort of cheaper jumpers we see coming from China are closer to 200g.'

But while a top-end cashmere sweater can sell for anything from 200 to 300, on the High Street the prices are all under 100, ranging from Tesco's 40 to Gap's 89.95.

To find out how they measured up, we asked SGS, a company that specialises in testing fabrics for the textile industry, to blind test jumpers from eight High Street stores. The results were unexpected…

THE TESTS

We checked five variables to find out:

1. Is it really cashmere
High-powered microscopes were used to check that the samples hadn't been supplemented with wool, angora or any other fibre. All of our jumpers came out as 100 per cent cashmere.

2. Will it lose its shape
While washing instructions ranged from 'dry clean only' to 'machine wash at 40c', as most people wash cashmere on a cool machine cycle, we laundered all the jumpers at 30c and let them dry flat. They were measured before and after washing to see how well they kept their shape. 'Most retailers wouldn't put up with change of more than about 5 per cent maximum,' says Michelle Stead from the testing laboratory.

3. Does it hold its colour
A sample of each jumper was washed at 30C with strips of different white fabrics. The strips were checked for any colour, and the sample was checked to see if it had lost colour. The results for each fabric and the original sample are graded and we then averaged them out to give a percentage for colour fastness.

4. Will it go bobbly
A sample is repeatedly rubbed to see to what extent it pills, or bobbles. The result is given a rating from one (the worst) to five (the best). 'You'd hope for a figure of at least four,' says Michelle.

5. Weight
We also weighed all the jumpers to give us a rough idea of how much cashmere had been used.

THE RESULTSFIRST PLACE – UNIQLO

Grey Uniqlo V-neck, 79.90

Grey V-neck, 79.90

Washing instructions: Dry clean

Weight: 174g

Colour fastness: 100%

Resistance to pilling: 3/5

Shrinkage after washing: Width -4.1%, length -3.2%, sleeve length +2.9%

Fit: Quite slim fitting, with a bit of extra length in the arms. I'd probably go for a size up and roll the sleeves back.

Verdict:
This was the overall winner of our test, coming out joint best for
pilling and, despite the dry clean only label, best when it came to
keeping its shape and its colour – although as it was one of the
lightest jumpers we tried, that might have swayed the result.

Keep an
eye out for cut-price promotions as Uniqlo often mark these jumpers
down, making them even better value.

Score: 8/10

JOINT SECOND – GAP

Gap, Blue V-neck, 89.95

Blue V-neck, 89.95

Washing instructions: Dry clean

Weight: 220g

Colour fastness: 88.6%

Resistance to pilling: 2/5

Shrinkage after washing: Width -4.1%, length -3.2%, sleeve length +2.9%

Fit:
Slouchy fit but still nice and snug across the shoulders – liked the
middle seam down the centre of the back as an added design detail.

Verdict:
This was the heaviest of all the jumpers we weighed – and although
that's partly because it's a slightly bigger fit than the rest, it does
feel more substantial.

Even though the instructions were dry clean only,
it didn't do badly on our wash test.

Score: 6/10

JOINT SECOND – MANGO

Mango, Camel V-neck, 79.99

Camel V-neck, 79.99

Washing instructions: Handwash at 30C

Weight: 194g

Colour fastness: 98.6%

Resistance to pilling: 2/5

Shrinkage after washing: Width 4.6%, length +0.4%, sleeve length +1.5%

Fit: Quite wide in the body but sleeves very narrow; looser, more tunic-like fit around waist.

Verdict:
Although this jumper washed well and has a decent weight to it, it was
joint worst with La Redoute when it came to pilling and it lost a point
for the slightly strange fit.

Score: 6/10

TRIPLE THIRD – MARKS & SPENCER

Marks & Spencer, Pale Blue V-neck, 79

Pale blue V-neck, 79

Washing instructions: Wash at 30C

Weight: 178g

Colour fastness: 91.4%

Resistance to pilling: 2/5

Shrinkage after washing: Width -9.6%, length -1.35%, sleeve length -0.4%

Fit:
Very long in the body but otherwise a fairly traditional fit with nice
shape across the shoulders and sleeves that are the right length.

Verdict:
Although this jumper put in an average performance across most of our
tests, it lost almost 10 per cent of its width after just one wash,
despite the fact that the label advises washing at 30c – that's a
disappointing result for a company like M&S that usually prides
itself on the quality of its clothes.

Score: 5/10

TRIPLE THIRD – FLORENCE & FRED AT TESCO

Florence & Fred at Tesco, Coral V-neck, 40

Coral V-neck, 40

Washing instructions: Wash at 40C

Weight: 146g

Colour fastness: 98.6%

Resistance to pilling: 2/5

Shrinkage after washing: Width -4.5%, length -2.45%, sleeve length -0%

Fit:
Feels soft and looks fluffy; nice ruched shoulder detail but sleeves
are bracelet length and body comes up shorter than on others and it bags
a bit above the waistband.

Verdict:
The lightest of all the jumpers we weighed – and it looks and feels
pretty flimsy, too. While it held its shape and colour well, it doesn't
have a lot of longevity.

The style, price and performance have it pegged
as throwaway fashion so don't expect to be wearing it this time next
year. Layer it with a long-sleeved vest if you actually want to stay
warm.

Score: 5/10

JOINT THIRD – LA REDOUTE

La Redoute, Dark Green V-neck, 69

Dark green V-neck, 69

Washing instructions: Hand wash

Weight: 158g

Colour fastness: 91.4%

Resistance to pilling: 2/5

Shrinkage after washing: Width -3.9%, length -1.05%, sleeve length +1.2%

Fit: Doesn't feel particularly fitted or form flattering.

Verdict:
Another very lightweight jumper that might have washed well overall but
did particularly badly in the pilling test and didn't do much for us
when it came to fit.

We say spend the extra tenner and get the Uniqlo
one instead.

Score: 5/10

FOURTH PLACE – PRIMARK

Primark, Black turtleneck, 42

Black turtle neck, 42

Washing instructions: Dry clean or handwash cold

Weight: 190g

Colour fastness: 88.6%

Resistance to pilling: 2/5

Shrinkage after washing: Width -4.55%, length -7.2%, sleeve length -6.7%

Fit: Slightly long in the sleeves but otherwise a good classic fitting roll neck and not as lightweight as you might think.

Verdict:
Admittedly we didn't follow the washing instructions so maybe we
shouldn't be surprised that it shrank quite dramatically, losing over
4cm in length on the body and around 3cm on the sleeves – but
realistically, who's going to handwash a Primark jumper

The impressive
price for the weight gives it an extra point.

Score: 4/10

BOTTOM OF THE LEAGUE – JOHN LEWIS

John Lewis, Purple V-neck, 69

Purple V-neck, 69

Washing instructions: Wash at 40c

Weight: 176g

Colour fastness: 84.2%

Resistance to pilling: 3/5

Shrinkage after washing: Width -8.55%, length -3.3%, sleeve length -4.9%

Fit: Narrow rib at waist and cuffs makes it seem more delicate, as does the rolled seam at the neck – slightly shorter in length than others.

Verdict: Despite saying it could be washed at 40c, this jumper shrank more than most when washed at 30c, losing 3.5cm off the width.

And, even though the colour change was only marginal, it also came off worst in the colour fastness test.

On the plus side it didn't pill as much as others, but a score of three out of five is still lower than the lab would expect from a quality retailer.

Score: 3/10