J Crew uses Loro Piana cashmere yarn for its sweaters. So what accounts for the difference between $1,000+ Loro Piana sweaters at high end boutiques and the $300 ones at J Crew?
On the one hand, quality manufacturing – the boutique sweaters are made in Italy, J. Crew’s in China. On the other hand, Loro Piana’s need to maintain its luxury brand image.
Read more in the Wall Street Journal here, and if you want to identify the good stuff yourself, check out Jesse’s article “Looking for Quality Cashmere” here.