Sand River shop in the Bund, Shanghai Photo: Sand River

 
Pairs, not pieces

As the founder of Sand River (Sina Weibo: @sand-river), Juliet Guo's dreams of creating a cashmere high-end brand that is not only fashionable, but also can be worn all year around.

Sand River was founded in 2002 in Shanghai. It now has more than 10 shops in China, and one in Tokyo. Different from other cashmere brands, Sand River puts great emphasis on design and fashion. For example, Sand River introduces the idea of the suit to the cashmere world.

Juliet Guo (left) and Junko Koshino Photo: Sand River

Junko Koshino, Sand River's chief designer, compares buying trends among Chinese and Japanese by saying, "In Japan, customers seldom buy a piece of clothing, but they will buy a suit, or a set. They pay attention to matching. While in China, people are still used to buying singlepieces."

Sand River tries to educate its shoppers, such as in its2012 winter collection which included many cashmere suits, small jackets paired with mini-skirts, or dresses with shawls, all of which are very unique in cashmere industry.

In 2013, Sand River is more ambitious than ever before, featuring its very revealing sleeveless dresses that show off curves with elegance. You can even pair a cashmere cape with the dress on cold days. Sand River communicates the casual beauty of cashmere to its customers through delectable simplicity.

Juilet's 'glamification'

Use of bright colors is another unique style of Sand River, who breaks away from traditional is not only black, greys and browns, and surprises with brilliant red, yellow, orange and blue.

"Customers are always very pleasantly surprised by our successful bold use of color," says founder Juliet Guo.

Many new fashion elements are also utilized in the design. Cashmere skirts edged with lace show a sexy yet elegant side. Cashmere coats inlaid with metal ornaments radiate a queen-like ai. Other Sand River trademark styles include hand-made fringes, inlaid leather and Chinese traditional embroidery.

"I call them glamification elements," said Juliet Guo with a smile, "we try to tell our customers to relax and treat fashion as a game."

Cashmere all year round

"People think cashmere is used just to keep warm. It's time to change that," said Juliet Guo."We are making cashmere clothing to be worn all year round."

Sand River is taking cashmere in new directions. In the past, the heavier the knitwear, the better. But Sand River is changing things, creating light and exquisite styles that expand the possibilities of cashmere.

 Globalization is making the world smaller. Every day, more people move between hemispheres. Juliet Guo hopes that people can wear Sand River's cashmere clothing no matter their location or season.

"We offer different styles and designs, thick or thin, to our customers," said Juliet Guo. "Using the best natural fiber, cashmere means richness, happiness and comfort, and it deserves to be worn more often. "

However, making cashmere to be worn all year round is not simple. The right blend is essential. Cashmere blended with silk and linen is very comfortable to wear in the summer. Keeping thin is also important, because the thinner the clothing, the more suited it is for summer.

Sand River already has rich knowledge and experience with light blends. Alxa cashmere, a blend Sand River uses, has a fineness of around 14-15.5 microns, and a length of around 36 centimeters which is the highest grade available.

Sand River uses Alxa cashmere to produce its "200-count" scarf. The "200-count" refers to 1 gram of cashmere can be spun into 200 meters of yarn. The higher the quality of cashmere, the thinner the scarf is. Sand River's "200-count" scarf is so thin and light that it is semi-transparent, and can be folded very tightly.

However, Sand River still has a long way to go. It has to continually innovate its designs, improve its textile technology and develop high-grade fabrics.

"Cashmere is very classical fabric, which we utilize in a traditional way," said Juliet Guo. "My dream is to interpret it that into a more fashionable style. We are embarking on new roads to explore modern interpretations of cashmere. We are very passionate and devoted."