Hermes Paddock Shawl 140 70% Cashmere 30% Silk H241228S 08

Walk the stable yard an hour after dawn and you will see the scene Jean-Louis Clerc drew: horses moving behind the rails, grass and morning order. The shawl takes its name and its calm from that hour, and there is a reason I keep it for early starts. It suits a frame of mind as much as a temperature. Clerc drew the working horse the way others draw architecture: steady, unhurried, exact.

On race days or shows, it is the layer that goes over the coat, never under it, knotted once at the chest with the ends left long. It warms without bulk, and the print gives binocular-time companions something to comment on. At a normal altitude, an office or a train, I fold it into a wide stole and wear the ends crossed behind; the blend is obliging about both without creasing hard enough to care. Stable quiet is apparently contagious; two friends have bought it after borrowing mine for an afternoon of watching.

Specifications kept honest: 70% cashmere and 30% silk, about 136 by 135 cm, hand-rolled edges, made in France. Hand-finished squares can vary slightly in size, so treat the published numbers as a close guide. The colour depth survives professional cleaning, which I have tested twice.

And the note that matters with any cashmere: cleaning is professional, and regular brushing with a soft cashmere brush matters more than a press. Against jeans, khaki and tweed, this shawl never looks out of place, and stored folded away from light, it keeps its morning calm.