Elegant and precious, with a strong character, declined in multiple wonderful shades

Mohair is a shiny, soft and silky yarn obtained from shearing the fleece of the Hircus Angorensis goat, which was imported by the Turks from the original highlands of Turkestan and Tibet as early as the 15th and 16th centuries. Although mohair fiber reached Europe from Constantinople without particular difficulty, the export of live Angora goat fleece was banned: it was an offense punishable by death. It was not until 1833 that British Colonel John Henderson first regularly imported an Angora goat from Turkey to South Africa, where the otherwise delicate species found a suitable habitat: he began the breeding of Angora goats outside Turkey, while in 1849 it was the United States that began the breeding of this breed. These two countries developed the breed's selection and currently the USA and South Africa are the largest producers of mohair, where, thanks to climatic conditions shearing can take place as many as twice a year, in contrast to the Anatolian provinces where only once a year shearing is possible, in April. In the United States from 1954 to 1995 mohair production was financed by government incentives: President Eisenhower signed the National Wool Act of 1954, which " provided for a new and permanent price support program for wool and mohair to encourage increased domestic production through incentive payments" to encourage increased domestic production of mohair and wool through incentive payments. There are sporadic Angora goat farms in Italy, with very limited mohair production. Angora goats are delicate animals, so if raised far from their places of origin, they can be affected by drought and cold, are not very prolific, and this is compounded by a high rate of kid mortality. In addition, the very dense fleece is often infested with parasites . All these factors, together with the feeding required to obtain good quality fleece mean that an Angora goat herd is not among the easiest or most profitable. The dominant and most valuable color is white. White-coated Angora goats have been increasingly selected by breeders.In recent years, however, an association has been emerging that promotes the development of Angora goats with black, brown and pinkish white fleece. This coat is sheared once or twice a year, obtaining about kg. 2.5/3.5 of fiber from each specimen The Mohair that is obtained is quite different depending on the age of the animal and is classified into different types: Kid Mohair which is obtained from first shearing of kids within 10 months and has a fineness of 25-30micron Young Goats Mohair given from young animals with a fineness of 32/34micron, Adults Mohair from adult animals with a fineness of 36/39micron. After shearing, the coarse fiber and any impurities removed, the mohair is sorted by fineness and length. The spinning operations also differ according to the fineness of the fiber. The finest and most valuable mohair is South African summer shearing where the fineness of a superkid is normally about 25 microns up to exceptional cases with finenesses of 23-24 microns if the weather has been particularly dry. Here the fineness of an adult can be up to 38 microns. A non-secondary factor is the length of the hair. Lengths range from 150 mm and above to 50 mm, but the average ranges from 125 to 75 mm so mohair fiber is particularly suitable for the production of fine yarns, rarely pure mohair, more often yarns blended with silk or merino. The long fiber characteristic means that mohair needlepoint yarns do not readily release fluff like other yarns. This yarn is shiny, soft and silky but also resistant to wear and tear and hardly prone to felting. Not to be forgotten is the elasticity of mohair fiber, which makes it crease-resistant and crease-resistant. Another factor that makes mohair a versatile fiber is that it can be easily dyed, as the color is evenly distributed. Mohair is in high demand in international markets, especially for the production of yarns for needlework and knitting. This significant increase in demand, especially from Britain, Italy and Japan leads to sharp fluctuations in prices. The International Mohair Association, whose members include breeders, traders, and processors of Mohair from all parts of the world is based in London and is responsible for the protection of the quality label for Mohair products.