Mohair Country

The story of the world’s finest mohair begins in the Karoo veld and ends up in the great fashion capitals of the world.

Jansenville is the warm, fluffy heart of the Mohair Universe. This fact is celebrated at the Mohair Museum in the main road.

At almost every padstal in the Eastern Cape Karoo there’s a fine selection of scarves, booties, travelling blankets, jerseys, socks, gloves and beanies, all made from the fleece of the Angora goat.

This region is the perfect place for such a beast. The wide variety of bossies and thorn trees, interspersed with grasses, makes for good browsing. The dry cold winters cut down on diseases and parasites.

But being an Angora goat farmer requires nerves of steel and a weather eye for a dropping barometer. These goats are vulnerable to a combination of chill and wind or rain, especially within six weeks after shearing.

Mohair is also popular in the form of a heat-holding lightweight blazer in the High Street of London under the prestigious Alfred Dunhill Camdeboo Mohair label.

South Africa supplies international and local markets with around 2.5 million kilograms, or around 60% of the world’s mohair.

What’s more, an astonishing 56 million knitters in the USA are sitting up and showing interest in the luxury ‘diamond fibre’.

Excerpt from Road Tripper Eastern Cape Karoo. Get your Print version HERE and your Ebook version HERE.