Kiton cashmere durability???

[Urban Warrior]

Today I bought what I gather is a pretty good deal on a Kiton suit, $1,500 from $5,400 at Barneys. I am kind of curious as to how durable cashmere is? There has been a ton of talk here about not wearing super 150's and up too often, as they may not wear to well over time. How does cashmere compare to say a super 150+? I stopped in Kiton and was a bit taken back when the salesman told me I could wear there super 200 suit 2-3 times a week forever without it showing any wear, seemed like good sales pitch to me but who knows. Any thoughts? Two interesting things also happened on my trip, I was reluctant to have this suit tailored at Barney's after reading a few posts here, when I asked about tailoring at Kiton I was told Barney's had in house a Kiton master tailor, which was the only one outside of Kiton in NYC.
The other funny side note was, my wife and I were in Ray's pizza (local pizza shop) when I remarked to her the guy buying a slice in front of us had an incredible suit on and it looked like it cost big $$$. Sure enough he was sitting behind the front desk at Kiton lol...

 

[imageWIS]

Well, the man's got to eat.

Kiton is Italian, pizza is Italian...hmm good things seem to come out of Italy...

(Thanks. Now I want pizza)

Jon.

 

[Urban Warrior]

Not sure if there is a Big Louie's in Boca LOL but it was close to NY pizza. Think Paul Castellano's son or brother owns the chain...

 

[johnnynorman3]

I imagine it will wear fine, actually.

 

[discostu004]

whoops

 

[Urban Warrior]

yup that was him.... Black guy with a ponytail. He was speaking spanish to the young lady he was with and I didn't notice an italian accent when he said hello at the store but who knows...

 

[imageWIS]

Not sure if there is a Big Louie's in Boca LOL but it was close to NY pizza. Think Paul Castellano's son or brother owns the chain...

Nevermind good pizza, Boca barely has any good deli's. Rascal House? Forgetaboutit. I rather have Katz Deli any day of the week.

Jon.

 

[Urban Warrior]

MMMM Katz's... Sounds like lunch tomorrow.

 

[dorian]

mmmm... Flooooriiiiiidaaaaaa... Sounds like a nice plan for lunch, any day of the week.

 

[A Harris]

Depends on how it is woven. I've seen fairly sturdy worsted cashmere before. In any event, it is going to be more fragile than wool, but not so fragile that you can't wear it. I've got a pure cashmere Kiton suit and I wear it fairly frequently. It's certainly not my go-to suit, but it will last through a good bit of occasional wear. Of course, I'll sell it long before it wears out...

 

[quill]

Super "200s" suit? Are we talking about cashmere or Australian merino wool? And what micron count are we talking? I don't believe in Australian merino that a Super 200s, which would be around the 13/14 micron range, has been made commonly available yet. One can reference Holland & Sherry's discussion at http://www.hollandandsherry.com/text...superfine.html Also, the Natural Fibers Information Center at the University of Texas/Austin ran this article not too long ago: WILD AND WOOLY In the never-ending quest to find the world's most precious wool, both Ermenegildo Zegna and Loro Piana are working on new endeavors that would make even Dolly envious. For years Zegna has sponsored its own wool competition to find the finest sheep from Australian herders. At the last edition, one sheep measured in at 11.7 microns, and there were several others fleeces coming in around 12 microns. Now Zegna says it's planning to take the search global. "The scope of our competition has always been to find and collect the finest fleece ever produced, if you will, the crème della crème of the best herds," said Paolo Zegna. "After Australia, we're hoping to expand our competition to the rest of the world." Of course it's not just Zegna pushing sheep to where they've never gone before. Loro Piana is also upping the ante. After buying the 2002 world-record-setting bale, which measured 12.5 microns, Pier Luigi Loro Piana said the company recently got its hands on an even finer lot. The new bale has a fineness of 12.1 microns and is large enough to supply fabric for 50 custom-made suits. It looks pretty apparent that only a few people in the world are dealing with this quality of wool. Granted, Kiton is certainly in the upper echelon, but I would be cautious about how loosely some companies are throwing around the designation "Super". If any company touts that they have lots of Super 200s available, you can be pretty sure it's more marketing than reality. Another interesting discussion can be seen at  http://www.windyridgealpacas.com/Fib...out_Fibre.html When fibers get as small as we're talkling about here, the very art of spinning becomes nearly impossible. Cashmere, of course, has great tensile strength, and as such some of these peculiarities may differ from merino wool.

 

[Joe G]

Kiton cashmere is extremely durable. I have a jacket that is 95% cashmere and 5% silk that looks perfect now that it's been worn extensively for three years or so. Another Kiton cashmere suit sees extensive wear in the winter, and after maybe 15 or 20 wearings it has yet to acquire any indications of break-in.

Peace,

JG