Andrea Karg trained as a lawyer before she started Allude in Munich in 1993, after spending years looking for a well fitted cashmere sweater she could never actually find. Her first design, a close V-neck sweater, sold immediately and is still one of the label's best-selling shapes today. That original instinct still runs through the range: shape matters as much as softness, and a knit only earns its keep if the shoulder and hem actually work with the rest of a wardrobe.

The Allude Cashmere cardigan is the flexible layer here, easy to add or shed depending on the room. The Cable-knit cashmere and silk-blend sweater brings texture that can carry a plainer outfit by itself, an approach Karg pushed early on when Allude became one of the first labels to work intarsia into cashmere. Before buying either, check how the knit sits when you move, because softness alone is not a reason to add another sweater.

These pieces are the wardrobe that gives the knitwear somewhere to go. The Wool and cashmere-blend midi skirt brings a different proportion below the waist than pants would, useful if a closet is already full of denim. The Open-knit wool and cashmere-blend overshirt makes a lighter layer feel more composed, especially over a plain sweater on a day that does not call for a coat. Wear either with denim or cotton poplin rather than doubling up on soft texture everywhere at once. Knitwear like this, made from yarn taken off the undercoat of Mongolian goats, deserves care, but it also needs to be worn enough to justify the washing and storage that comes with it. I went deeper on a related idea in Cashmere Cardigans and Sweaters to Wear on the Regular.

Allude's case rests on treating cashmere as daily clothing rather than a delicate occasion piece, and decades after Karg's first sweater the range still backs that up. A close sweater and a relaxed cardigan solve different problems, so the choice should come down to the actual gap in a closet rather than the softest option in a photograph. The skirt and overshirt exist to give the knitwear somewhere to go instead of repeating the same sweater and jeans combination every week. A full cashmere outfit in one soft register can flatten a look unless the texture or length changes somewhere along the way. I would buy the piece I would wear on an unremarkable Tuesday and let that decide everything else. If you want to keep going, Loro Piana Cashmere Knitwear: Sweaters, Cardigans and Coats is the one I would read next.