Cashmere is named after Kashmir, the region historically associated with the trade and production of this fine textile. The fiber itself does not come from the land. It comes from the soft undercoat of certain goats, commonly called cashmere goats.
That point matters because many people assume cashmere is just a fancy kind of sheep’s wool. It is not. Both are animal fibers, but they come from different animals.
- Cashmere: fine undercoat fiber from goats
- Wool: fiber that usually comes from sheep
For example, a cashmere sweater is made from goat fiber, while a typical wool sweater is made from sheep fiber. Kashmir became so closely tied to the material through trade and craftsmanship that the regional name became the fabric name in English.
So the word cashmere tells a story about geography and trade, while the fiber itself tells a story about the animal it comes from.