Materials

What Is a Camel Hair Coat? Camel Hair vs Camel Colour

3 min read October 21, 2026

The short answer

A camel hair coat is woven from the soft undercoat of the camel, mostly the two-humped Bactrian camel of Mongolia and northern China, gathered when the animals moult in spring. A "camel coat" usually means only the colour, a golden tan named after the fibre, and is far more often wool or cashmere. The fibre content label is the only proof: look for "camel hair" (Kamelhaar, poil de chameau, pelo di cammello) with a percentage.

Editorial photograph by Eliezer Muller, The Good Old — Anemoia Vestiaire
Photograph by Eliezer Muller

A camel hair coat is made from the soft undercoat of the camel, mostly the two-humped Bactrian camel of Central Asia. A camel coat, on the other hand, is usually just a coat in camel colour: a warm golden tan that took its name from the fibre, and that is far more often woven in sheep's wool or cashmere. The colour tells you nothing. Only the fibre content label does.

That matters when you buy vintage, because "camel" in a listing can mean either. Most of the camel-coloured coats in our vintage overcoat archive are wool or cashmere, and every listing names the fibre.

What camel hair actually is

A Bactrian camel grows two coats. The outer guard hair is long and coarse; it sheds dirt and water and ends up in haircloth, interlinings and rugs. Underneath sits a short, fine, insulating down. That down is what goes into a good camel hair coat. As with cashmere, only the soft under-hair is spun for fine cloth.

Camels moult every spring, over several weeks, and the hair comes away in clumps. Herders gather it as it falls, comb it out, or shear it. Combed down still carries some coarse hair, so it is cleaned and sorted before spinning. The FAO places the finest fibre in Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, and notes that camels in the hottest deserts grow a coarser, sparser down.

The natural colour is a reddish or golden brown, from cream to almost black on individual animals; white is rare and prized. Most camel hair cloth is left in that natural tan, the shade the colour "camel" is named after.

Camel hair vs camel colour

Today "camel" is mostly a colour. The best-known camel coat of the last forty years, Max Mara's 101801, designed by Anne-Marie Beretta in 1981, is wool and cashmere in camel colour, not camel hair. The same is true of most camel-coloured coats that come through our archive: of the camel-coloured coats in stock in October 2026, nearly all are wool, cashmere or cashgora.

So a listing that says "camel coat" may describe either the fibre or the colour. A listing that says "camel hair" should be backed by a label.

How to tell if a coat is real camel hair

Read the fibre content label, usually sewn into a side seam or the inside pocket. Under the US wool labelling rules, "camel hair" may stand in for the word "wool" on a label only with its percentage stated, for example "55% Alpaca, 45% Camel Hair". European coats use their own words:

  • English: camel hair, camelhair, camel's hair
  • German: Kamelhaar
  • French: poil de chameau
  • Italian: pelo di cammello, cammello

Read the label literally. "Cashmere and wool" in a camel shade is a camel-coloured cashmere blend. "Camel" on its own, next to the size or a colour code, is usually the colour. If the label is missing, nobody can tell camel down from fine wool or cashmere by touch alone, so treat "camel hair" as a claim, not a fact. Our guide on reading a vintage coat's label shows where to look.

Camel hair vs cashmere vs wool

Fibre From Fineness Natural colour
Camel hair (down) Undercoat of the Bactrian camel About 19–24 microns Golden to reddish brown, rarely white
Cashmere Undercoat of the cashmere goat 19 microns or finer by US law White, grey or brown
Fine merino wool Fleece of the merino sheep Comparable to camel down White, easily dyed

The FAO puts camel down about 2 microns coarser than Iranian cashmere, and the spinning magazine Spin-Off compares it to merino, with the finest lots matching cashmere. In a coat that means a soft, slightly drier hand than cashmere. For how it compares with alpaca, mohair, vicuña and the rest, see the best natural fibre for a winter coat.

Why camel hair costs more

Supply is small. An adult Bactrian camel gives roughly 2.25 kg (5 lb) of down a year, and that down has to be separated from the coarse hair before it can be spun. The best fibre comes from a few herding regions in Mongolia and northern China. Camel is also often blended with wool, a practice dating back to the 19th century, so read the percentage before you compare prices.

Where the camel hair coat came from

The classic camel hair coat is the polo coat. British polo players wore a loose camel coat between chukkas, the "wait coat", and the style crossed to the United States, where it became popular in the 1920s and 1930s on polo grounds and on elite college campuses. The Museum at FIT holds a camel hair polo coat made by J.C. Wells in England in 1951.

Common questions

What is a camel hair coat made of?

Real camel hair coats are woven from the fine undercoat (down) of the camel, mostly the two-humped Bactrian camel of Mongolia and northern China. The down is gathered when the camels moult in spring, separated from the coarse outer hair and spun. Many are blends, such as camel hair with wool, and the label gives the percentages.

Is a camel coat made from camel hair?

Usually not. "Camel" is mostly a colour, a golden tan named after the fibre. Most camel coats, including Max Mara's 101801 from 1981, are wool and cashmere. Only the fibre content label tells you whether a coat is camel hair.

How can I tell if my coat is real camel hair?

Check the fibre content label for "camel hair", "camelhair", "Kamelhaar", "poil de chameau" or "pelo di cammello", with a percentage. Under US labelling rules a specialty fibre such as camel hair must be named with its percentage. Without a label, camel down can't be reliably told from fine wool or cashmere by touch.

Is camel hair better than cashmere?

It's different rather than better. Cashmere is finer: US law requires 19 microns or less, while the FAO puts camel down at about 19 to 24 microns. Camel hair has a slightly drier hand and its natural golden colour. Both are undercoat fibres in short supply.

Why is camel hair so expensive?

Because the supply is small. An adult Bactrian camel gives roughly 2.25 kg (5 lb) of down a year, it has to be cleaned of coarse guard hair before spinning, and the best fibre comes from a few herding regions in Mongolia and Inner Mongolia.

Where did the camel hair coat come from?

From polo. British players wore a loose camel coat between chukkas, known as the wait coat or polo coat. It became popular in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s, at polo matches and on elite college campuses.

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