Of all the things to invest in for your wardrobe (particularly if it’s a British closet), exceptional cashmere will be the thing to provide the greatest return on investment.
Even at the height of summer, those cool evenings, breezy seaside days and arctic plane cabins all mean that cashmere still very much has a role to play in your collection. Then as summer comes to an end and temperatures drop, cashmere knitwear remains center-stage as the layers around it change; T-shirts swapped for layering tops, shorts replaced with tailored pants, bare legs sheathed with tights. Relevant across all four seasons, the cost per wear for the right knit becomes negligible.
The Science of Cashmere
Mother Nature is clever. As a natural, breathable fiber, cashmere has the ability to regulate body temperature, keeping you warm in winter and cool in summer.
We only use the very best cashmere for our knitwear, woven from long fibers: the longer the fiber, the better the quality of the yarn and the softer it feels. Our signature lofty cashmere gets its name from the weave of the fabric, which is knitted off gauge to give it a looser tension. The effect is a knit that feels airy and weightless - lofty - making it ideal for summer wear.
How to style cashmere for summer
We consider cashmere knitwear to be integral to all our collections - summer, autumn, winter and spring - as a hard-working styling piece.
Worn alone, layered over t-shirts and blouses, under jackets and coats: cashmere jumpers and cardigans are a fundamental building block in a high-performing, versatile wardrobe, bolting together all your seasonal investments for seamless transitional dressing.
Discover this summer’s cashmere essentials and how to style them, now and later, for a true forever collection.
The Cashmere Cardigan
In recent years, the cardigan has been resurrected as a hero piece after decades as a sartorial no-go.
Versatile and effortlessly chic, a cardigan makes for a great compromise in unpredictable weather. Wear it open over a cami or tee, on its own and buttoned up - nonchalant, but sexy - or even make like a fashion editor and perch it over your shoulders for a layering middle-ground.
The obsession with cashmere cardigans shows no signs of abating, and so we have introduced the luxuriously soft cashmere-silk blend style into our knitwear repertoire, knitted in our signature cloud-like, lofty weave.
And because it is our commitment to make layering and outfit building easy, we have seen the look right through to the end and adapted our clever layering tops to cater to their cut. New iterations see all the detailing focused at the center-front, starting at the collar and finishing halfway down the body to perfectly complement the deep v-neckline of a buttoned-up cardigan.
The Cashmere Hoody
One of our most iconic styles, the Icon Cashmere Crop Box Hoody is the very definition of sports luxe.
Crafted from 100% cashmere and available in a spectrum of hues, the ageless design features a button-up front concealed behind a placket for an uninterrupted look and an adjustable drawstring at the waist that allows you to pull in the fit.
The cashmere hoody is the perfect accompaniment to luxe loungewear; team it with fellow icon style the Palazzo Pant or a jogger for an off-duty look that sacrifices nothing in style. Add our oversized Cashmere Throw and you have an unrivalled outfit for long and short-haul travel.
The Cashmere Curved-Hem Sweater
Another ME+EM signature style, our Lofty Cashmere Curved Hem Sweater, has been reimagined in a host of vibrant hues for summer - orange, blue, and electric green.
Knitted off gauge like our cardigan, these airy knits are ideal for throwing on over tees and floaty dresses for summer evenings. Play with color and contrast a bold sweater with a familiar neutral, or opt for a style in a classic hue to temper a statement print.
The USP of this classic crew neck sweater is the curved hem of its name, which rises to be slightly shorter at the front and then gently slopes down towards the back.
When styling with bottoms that are higher waisted or have waist detailing like a belt or adjustable tie, a shorter hem at the front of a cashmere sweater avoids any conflict or excess bulk around the middle; top and bottom meet at just the right point to sit together in perfect harmony, like jigsaw pieces.
What’s more, rather than cutting off the top of the leg as a classic straight hemline would, a shorter hem at the front reveals more of the legs to make them look visually longer.
The Cashmere Vest
Crafted from a summer blend of lightweight, breathable cotton and supersoft cashmere, a sleeveless vest is the ultimate solution for translating your summer wardrobe into a winter one.
Wear it alone or perhaps layered over a cotton tee now, a clever way to achieve just the right body temperature in the face of overzealous office air conditioning without feeling too encumbered by a full-sleeved knit.
For later, the Cotton Cashmere Mid-Length Sleeveless Vest is designed to be paired with summer’s layering blouses, the sleeveless cut complementing their statement sleeves.
Rather than being awkwardly forced under a long knitted sleeve, or worse, relegated to the back of your closet until warmer weather returns, a cashmere-blend vest allows layering blouses with balloon sleeves, frill trims and lace inserts to perform as intended and elevate an outfit throughout the seasons.