Cashmere vs Alpaca vs Mohair: Which Is Warmer in a Coat?

Cashmere, alpaca and mohair are three different animals' hair that all get sold as "luxury wool". Cashmere is the finest and lightest, alpaca is smooth, dense and a little heavier, and mohair is the glossy, springy one with a long reputation for itch. In a coat the differences show up less in the name than in how the cloth is woven and what else is blended into it, so the label's percentage tells you more than the fibre's reputation.

We handle all three in our vintage cashmere and overcoat archives, mostly as blends with wool. This is a short guide to telling them apart in a coat, not a sweater.

What each fibre is

Cashmere is the fine, dehaired undercoat of the cashmere goat. US labelling rules allow the word only if the fibre averages 19 microns or less, with no more than 3% by weight over 30 microns.

Alpaca is the fleece of the alpaca, a South American camelid. The two breeds are the huacaya, with a crimped fleece, and the suri, with long, silky locks. The US Alpaca Fiber Standard grades the fleece by fineness in seven bands, from 15 to 17 microns up to 32 to 35 microns, and gives a processable length of 2 to 5.5 inches for huacaya and 2 to 7.5 inches for suri.

Mohair is the hair of the Angora goat, not the Angora rabbit. The US rule lets "mohair" stand in for "wool" on a label only when the fibre is that goat's hair, with the percentage given. It is coarser than cashmere: grading systems put kid mohair at roughly 20 to 30 microns and adult mohair at about 34 to 40, depending on the country's standard.

At a glance

	Cashmere	Alpaca	Mohair
Animal	Cashmere goat	Alpaca (huacaya or suri)	Angora goat
Fineness	19 microns or finer on average by US law	Graded from about 15 to 35 microns; baby alpaca is about 19 to 23	About 20 to 30 (kid) up to about 34 to 40 (adult)
Look and feel	Soft, light, slight sheen	Smooth and dense, with a dry, silky hand	Lustrous and springy, often brushed to a halo
Typical use in a vintage coat	Pure or blended with wool	Blended with wool, sometimes pure	Blended with wool, often bouclé or brushed
Vintage price in our stock (Oct 2026)	Pure cashmere about €195 to 430	Blends mostly about €140 to 250; pure alpaca about €370 to 540	Blends mostly about €185 to 240

Is alpaca warmer than cashmere?

You will see claims that alpaca is "30% warmer", or several times warmer than wool. We could not trace those figures to an independent test. The reasonable part is the mechanism: alpaca fibre often has a hollow centre, the medulla, which may trap air, and a 2024 study of huacaya fibre makes that point. The same study notes that the medulla can make the finished cloth less comfortable. Finer alpaca, under about 20 microns, tends to be less hollow, so the advantage is likely smaller in the best grades.

For a coat the practical answer is the same as for wool: warmth comes from the thickness and density of the cloth and how well it keeps wind out. A dense alpaca-and-wool overcoat will be warmer than a thin cashmere one. Between two cloths of equal weight and weave, the difference between the fibres is small enough that you will not notice it before you notice the cut.

Is mohair itchy?

Often, yes, and coarse fibres are the reason. Wool research since the 1990s links prickle to the share of fibres thicker than about 30 microns: fabrics with more of them feel pricklier, and the industry's rule of thumb is that fewer than about 5% should exceed that. Adult mohair sits well above 30 microns, so it can prickle on bare skin. Kid mohair is much finer, and a coat is lined and worn over layers, so it matters far less than in a sweater.

The same logic applies to alpaca: a coarse grade can itch, and the finest grades do not. If you are sensitive, choose a lined coat, or put a layer between your skin and the collar.

Cashgora, the one that confuses people

"Cashgora" turns up in vintage Italian labels, including in our own archive. It is the down of a goat bred from cashmere and Angora stock, with a fibre diameter of about 19 to 23 microns, so it cannot be sold as cashmere under the US 19-micron limit. A University of California extension article describes the cross as an attempt to get heavier fleeces. Treat it as its own fibre: a pleasant, soft one, not a cheap version of cashmere.

Reading the label

Whichever you want, the label is the only proof:

• "Mohair" on a US label means Angora goat hair, with the percentage stated.
• "Alpaca" is a fibre name that can be used with its share. A coat called "alpaca" in its title may be 20% alpaca and 80% wool.
• A fibre name in a listing's title tells you the coat's character, not its composition. Ask for the percentage if the label is missing.

In our archive in October 2026, the alpaca and mohair coats were mostly blends with wool at roughly €140 to 250, from makers such as Canali, Herno, Moessmer, Loden-Frey and Massimo Longi. Pure alpaca is rarer: a Piacenza pure alpaca shawl-collar coat was about €540. Prices are approximate and change as pieces sell.

Which should you choose?

Choose cashmere for lightness, drape and softness against the neck. Choose alpaca for a smooth, dense cloth with a drier, silkier hand than cashmere. Choose mohair for texture and a brushed or bouclé look, ideally in a blend and with a lining. For the strongest everyday coat, none of the three beats a heavy wool cloth, and most vintage coats combine one of them with exactly that.

Before you buy any of them, check the label percentage, look under the arms and at the cuffs for thinning, and hold the cloth to the light for moth holes. Our guide to cleaning a cashmere coat applies to alpaca and mohair blends too.