Held in New York at The Brant Foundation on Tuesday, the Loro Piana Cashmere of the Year Award for 2025 celebrated the fiber’s fineness of a mere 12.89 microns. The event also unveiled the “Master of Cashmere” exhibition highlighting the Italian house’s history and superior know-how.

Established in 2015, the award has contributed to significantly improve the fineness of cashmere — a key fabric for Loro Piana.

“My journey with cashmere in China began in the 1980s, when I first traveled to meet the herders and discover the origins of this extraordinary fiber. Over the years, we have built strong relationships with local communities, based on trust, mutual respect and a shared commitment to quality,” said Pier Luigi Loro Piana, deputy chairman of the company. “The Cashmere of the Year Award is a natural expression of these relationships, recognizing the people whose knowledge and dedication are essential to producing the finest cashmere.”

He recalled the inception of the award, recognizing the herders of Inner Mongolia “who share our passion for the finest cashmere. We wanted not only to reward their efforts, but also to create an opportunity to celebrate their dedication, showcase their expertise and honor the traditions they have carried forward through generations.” He said the award allows the company “to celebrate the people behind this extraordinary fiber and recognize their invaluable contribution to preserving and passing on the knowledge and expertise that make the finest cashmere possible.”

Chief executive officer Frédéric Arnault underscored how cashmere “is at the heart of Loro Piana’s identity. Our Master of Cashmere exhibition shows the extraordinary journey of this fiber, from the vast landscapes of Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, and the generations of herders who preserve its traditions, to the craftsmanship and innovation in our mills in Italy.”

The exhibition was staged as an immersive experience, retracing the house’s “pioneering history, its longstanding relationships with local communities and its pursuit of excellence, highlighting how exceptional raw materials are transformed into iconic fabrics and creation,” Arnault continued. “It is an opportunity to share the unique expertise behind our products, our commitment to responsible sourcing, and the importance of preserving and transmitting this know-how to future generations.”

This 11th edition honored three couples of cashmere herders from Inner Mongolia, who earned the award. The first prize was bestowed for cashmere weighing 135.8 kg greasy, with a fiber diameter of 12.89 microns. The second prize was bestowed for 87.1 kg of greasy cashmere at 13.01 microns and the third for 116 kg of greasy cashmere at 13.04 microns.

A micron is the unit of measurement of the fineness of a fiber equivalent to one-thousandth of a millimeter. For context, a human hair measures 70 microns.

Each year, winners receive a financial reward per kilo of fiber produced, along with an intricately crafted silver comb symbolizing the cashmere gathering process.

“The quality of cashmere depends on many factors, starting with the animals, the environment in which they live, and the expertise of the herders. This is something I witnessed firsthand in Mongolia,” Arnault said.

“Since 2009, through The Loro Piana Method, we have worked to improve the quality and fineness of cashmere through a selective breeding program, optimizing production and contributing to the preservation of the Alashan goat,” Arnault said.

The method has also led to new generations of goats and has cemented a mutually beneficial collaboration with local herders and breeders in Inner Mongolia.

Arnault also cited the launch of the Resilient Threads project in Mongolia last year “to strengthen the resilience of the cashmere ecosystem and support the well-being of herders, animals and landscapes. Both initiatives reflect our long-term commitment to preserving the conditions to create exceptional cashmere, and ensure that we can continue to offer the finest cashmere for generations to come.”

The program supports Mongolia’s cashmere cooperatives, herding communities and steppes in the vulnerable Sukhbaatar Province, building resilience while protecting the local biodiversity and strengthening the future of the cashmere ecosystem.

The result of two years of preparatory work, the program has been created in partnership with the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, the Sustainable Fiber Alliance and the Odyssey Conservation Trust and aligns with Mongolia’s economic, climate, biodiversity, and equity goals. Academic institutions including the Royal Veterinary College in London and the University of Liège in Belgium, as well as the Mongolian University of Life Sciences and the Mongolian University of Finance and Economics contribute training sessions and research components.

Loro Piana has built longstanding relationships with herders committed to sourcing the rarest and finest raw materials around the world, including sourcing vicuña from Peru, in addition to cashmere and the finest wools — a research fueled over the years by Pier Luigi Loro Piana, whose textile expertise, passion and commitment is second to none.

Loro Piana, which has been controlled by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton since 2013, also bestows the Record Bale Award. Established in 1997, it rewards two farms, one in Australia and one in New Zealand, that have successfully produced the finest bale of merino wool in the previous year.

The World Record Bale is preciously stored in a glass container at the Loro Piana Quarona factory in Italy’s Piedmont region, until the record is beaten and the previous award-winning bale is spun into the ultrafine The Gift of Kings wool, then plied into a lineup of garments bearing the same moniker.

In Tokyo last April, the award was bestowed for obtaining a merino wool fiber of 10.4 microns. The award ceremonies have been held around the world, from New York and Los Angeles to Rome, Milan and London.

Loro Piana also supports the Knit Design Award, launched to promote young designers from leading design schools worldwide.

In September, Loro Piana inaugurated a new knitwear complex in Ghemme, in Italy’s Piedmont region, a state-of-the-art facility that fully integrates the majority of the stages of manufacturing fully fashioned knitwear within a single plant. Covering more than 86,000 square feet, Loro Piana Ghemme marks the house’s first new manufacturing plant construction since the 1990s.

Published Date:2026-11-12