The lack of regulation led a Lambeth councillor, Edward Davie, to warn that, in the poorest areas, high streets "fleece, deprive and expose citizens to risk".
The resulting fabric, which sells for as little as $3 a yard wholesale (although high-grade fleece can cost 10 times that amount) has gone one better on nature.
But wool lovers are willing to payup to $235 for Ibex's top-of-the-line Berg jacket, compared with $180 for a high-end fleece model from The North Face.
They sit ensconced in high-end fleeces and wools and furs and leathers — layers that are useful in the cold but unnecessary for surviving the journey from fireside couch to snack bar.
Coated fleeces were only arithmetically higher yielding than uncoated fleeces (55.2% versus 53.4%), but the coated fleeces were visually cleaner and brighter than uncoated fleeces, which is very important for the targeted niche market.
This means the shell is 1000 Denier coated cordura nylon, the lining is high quality polar fleece, the straps are Milspec webbing, and the velcro could probably hold a car door shut.
The bulkier the fleece, the higher the yield.
Emphasizing cashmere would lead to the selection of the goats with the finest fleece and highest market value which in turn would lead to a reduction in the total herd size because low-quality animals would not be favoured.
It takes all of ten minutes after opening the perfection that is inside a Barbie box to accept the imperfect, when pristine outfits end up as disparate remnants of a once co-ordinating ensemble: a bikini top paired with fake fur trousers, thigh-high boots with a fleece, and plastic lumps and bumps, simulating intimate body parts, casually exposed or half covered in frilly underwear.
She speculates that washing machines are less pervasive in Indonesia and synthetic, high performance fabrics, such as fleece, which are known to shed a lot of fibers, are not as common in Indonesia.
