Scarves have a long history and were once associated with a strong class color. The rudiments of the modern scarf appeared in Croatia in the 17th century and were mainly used in the military to distinguish rank and status. After Queen Victoria ascended the throne in 1837, she began to promote accessories such as scarves, and scarves really became popular, but they were more aristocratic fashion, often used to distinguish between different classes. It was not until the 19th-20th centuries that scarves began to be mass-produced by fashion houses and became a popular fashion accessory.
 
Even though scarves have become an everyday clothing accessory, the high-end line of scarves is still in the hands of international luxury fashion houses. And among the many standouts, the strength of the Italian high-end luxury brand Loro Piana is second to none. Since the beginning of the 19th century, the Loro Piana family has been trading wool and fine textiles in Trivero, Italy, a region in northern Italy known for its textile production. In the 70s of the 20th century, when it expanded its luxury retail business, it entered the international high-end clothing market in one fell swoop, and in 2013, it was under the command of the French luxury giant LVMH Group.
 
As an international brand specializing in the manufacture of high-end cashmere and wool textiles, the luxury of Loro Piana's products comes from the dedication to high-quality raw materials, not only mastering the resources of rare fabrics such as vicuña, baby cashmere, lotus flower and ultra-fine merino wool, becoming the benchmark of the industry's top fabric products, but also the world's largest buyer of cashmere and wool. Unlike today, where some of the products of the big international brands rely on contract manufacturing, Loro Piana is very hands-on from raw material procurement to spinning to finished products, mainly due to the fact that it operates its own fine wool mill, and the production of fabrics and yarns accounts for about 25% of its sales, which shows its strong production strength.
 
The overall style of the Loro Piana scarf is simple, and the patterns are mostly solid colors or checks, and there is no printed design. Women's scarves are mostly in plain light white tones, decorated with draped tassels, luxurious but unassuming. Men's scarves are dominated by calm dark colors, with rich and soft colors, short tassels neat and crisp, showing a gentleman's style, and there are more choices for men than women.
 
Cashmere, merino wool and vicuña hair are the 3 main ingredients used in Loro Piana scarves. Cashmere (commonly known as "cashmere") is an extremely fine and soft fleece grown by goats to resist the cold of winter, and is famous for its scarce production and excellent soft and warm properties, and the price is much higher than that of finer and more abundant sheep's wool. Today, cashmere is especially produced in Inner Mongolia, China, with the highest yield and the best quality. Since 1975, Loro Piana has been sourcing cashmere from the Alxa Desert in Inner Mongolia, China, and Mongolia, and in 1999 it acquired a cashmere carding factory in Ulaanbaatar, where it was inspected, coarsely removed and cleaned before being shipped to Italy for subsequent testing and spinning. Loro Piana also ensures the stability of its products due to strict control of the production process.
 
Loro Piana's pure cashmere scarves are divided into two categories, made of cashmere and baby cashmere. Baby cashmere is the first cut cashmere of goat cubs, and compared to adult cashmere, baby cashmere produces less and is finer (baby cashmere is about 13.5 microns in diameter, adult cashmere is about 15 microns in diameter), and the finished product is softer to the touch. Loro Piana's cashmere scarves range from 3,000 to tens of thousands of yuan due to different styles and specifications, and in the case of similar styles and specifications, the price of small cashmere materials is higher, such as a Twelve scarf made of small cashmere costs about 6,400 yuan.
 
Loro Piana's pure wool scarves are made from merino wool. The wool produced by Merino sheep is finer than ordinary sheep wool, fineness is an important indicator to determine the grade of wool, the finer the wool fiber resilience and luster better, the softer the finished feel, and the longer the fiber, the more durable and durable the final product, not easy to shed. Merino wool from Australia and New Zealand is now best known and of the highest quality. Merino wool is divided into 5 grades according to different fineness, Ultrafine Merino (ultrafine merino, diameter below 15.5 microns) is the highest grade, Loro Piana purchases ultrafine merino wool from these two places, the diameter is 12 microns finer than cashmere, and the wool scarf made of The Gift of Kings® series is soft and comparable to cashmere, and it is also very skin-friendly and comfortable to wear, and the price is even higher than its cashmere scarf, close to 20,000 yuan.
 
Loro Piana's finest scarves are made from vicuña hair from the Andes of Peru and Argentina, with fibres up to 12.5 microns in diameter or smaller, making them softer and lighter than cashmere, providing excellent comfort and warmth. Once hunted and endangered for their fur profits, Loro Piana joined the International Vicuna Consortium, founded by the Peruvian government, in 1994 to gain legal rights to buy, process and export vicuña fiber. In order to ensure a stable supply of vicuña hair, Loro Piana has also acquired the right to trim vicuña hair through the establishment of a private nature reserve and the acquisition of a local Argentine company. Today, Loro Piana's control of vicuña is almost monopolistic, and only a few other manufacturers have access to this raw material. Combined with the time-consuming collection and processing of these scarce fibers using traditional methods, they are therefore very expensive. Most of the pure vicuña hair scarves made from this retain the primary color of golden brown fibers, and the price varies slightly due to different specifications, and the price of a pure vicuña scarf from the Grande Unita series is about 30,000 yuan.
 
In addition to pure cashmere, merino wool and vicuña, Loro Piana's scarves are also partially blended, with a wider range of colours. In addition to the styles made of cashmere and silk or cotton, there are also some blends of cashmere and vicuña, but they are expensive, the lowest price is more than 4,000 yuan, if you don't mind the price, the pursuit of the ultimate warmth and comfort, Loro Piana is definitely the first choice.