It’s not as soft as cashmere or as warm as wool.

Yet the Allo scarf – made of fibre extracted from the stems of the Giant Himalayan Nettle – keeps you warm when it’s cold and cool when it’s hot. The natural quality of the fibre is retained as the material is minimally treated. Like linen, nettle softens with use. “The more you use it, the softer it gets”, touts one website.

In Nepal nettle is known as Allo by the Kulung Rai hill-tribes who use its fibre for everything – from tying the umbilical cord to wrapping dead bodies.

As part of Nepal’s growing sustainable endeavours, women in rural villages knit these scarves. Their handiwork is then sold in Kathmandu’s ‘Craft with Conscience’ shops. After the fibre is spun into yarn the scarves are knitted by hand, preserving their natural tones. Its unrefined shades are determined by the type of nettle the fibre grows on. The intricate lace motifs, too, are a treasured legacy of different villages.

Forget fast fashion and synthetic materials. Invest in ethics.