The Elder Statesman pieces cleaned and hand-finished by Alex's Dry Cleaning Valet.
Heritage & Expertise
The Elder Statesman, Cared For by Alex's Team
The Elder Statesman was founded in Los Angeles in 2007 by Greg Chait, who began with a series of cashmere blankets and built the label into a benchmark for hand-knit, hand-dyed luxury cashmere. The brand is celebrated for its intricacy, deliberately limited production, and its signature hand-dyeing and tie-dye work — color recipes developed and applied by hand at its own Arts & Crafts factory in LA, recognition for which earned Chait the 2012 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award.
Because each piece is hand-spun, hand-knit in an open artisanal gauge, and dyed by hand rather than piece-dyed by machine, ordinary dry cleaning is genuinely dangerous to it: hot water and agitation felt and shrink the cashmere permanently, while harsh solvents and heat can lift or bleed the hand-applied color and flatten the loft that gives the knit its character. Alex's specializes in exactly this kind of delicate, hand-finished knitwear.
Specialist Care
How Alex's Cares for The Elder Statesman
Every Elder Statesman piece is hand-cleaned with gentle, color-safe methods, hand-blocked back to its exact measurements, and never subjected to the heat or agitation that would felt the cashmere or disturb its hand-dyed color.
Hand-knit cashmere
The open, hand-knit gauge is what makes these pieces special — and what makes them stretch or felt if handled carelessly. We clean each one flat, never on a hanger, and hand-block it back to its original length and shape rather than letting it relax out of form.
Hand-spun, ethically sourced cashmere
The Elder Statesman hand-spins cashmere sourced from regions like Mongolia, Afghanistan, and Italy, giving it exceptional loft. We use only cool, gentle cleaning that preserves that softness and loft instead of compressing the fiber the way hot machine processing does.
Hand-applied and tie-dyed color
The brand's signature colorwork is dyed by hand, not set by industrial machine, so it can bleed or fade under harsh solvents and heat. We test and treat every piece with color-safe methods that keep the hand-dyed and tie-dye patterns vivid and true.
Cashmere blankets and throws
Oversized hand-knit blankets need to be cleaned flat and dried flat to avoid stretching at the edges. We handle them on a full surface, reshape them by hand, and return them folded the way they were made to drape.
Pilling and pull repair
Loosely knit cashmere naturally pills and snags with wear. We hand-de-pill with proper tools — never a razor — and gently re-seat pulled loops so the knit looks as it did the day it arrived, with no thinning of the yarn.
Pickup & Delivery
Door-to-Door Across the Bay Area
The same white-glove standard travels everywhere we serve. Pickup from your front door, doorman, or garage — returned cleaned, pressed, and ready to wear.
San Francisco
Monday – Saturday
Next-business-day return; Saturday pickups return Tuesday morning.
Peninsula & South Bay
Monday · Wednesday · Friday
Returned on the next scheduled service day.
Marin County
Monday – Saturday
Same-day return is the standard Mon–Fri — morning pickups come back the same afternoon. Saturday pickups return Monday; closed Sundays.
East Bay
Thursday & Saturday
Returned on the next service day.
Wine Country
Monday & Thursday
Mon & Thu 11:00 AM–3:00 PM · next service day (Mon↔Thu). $300 min or $75 each way.
$75 minimum per pickup with free pickup and delivery across San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin, and the East Bay. Wine Country (Napa, Sonoma & St. Helena): $300 service minimum, or a $75 delivery charge each way. Same-day service available in most areas for an additional fee.
Common Questions
The Elder Statesman Garment Care FAQ
How do you clean The Elder Statesman cashmere without shrinking or felting it?
We never use hot water or machine agitation, which is what permanently felts and shrinks hand-knit cashmere. Each piece is hand-cleaned with cool, gentle, color-safe methods, then laid flat and hand-blocked back to its exact original measurements before being dried flat. The open artisanal gauge and loft of the knit are preserved rather than compressed.
Will dry cleaning fade or bleed The Elder Statesman's hand-dyed and tie-dye colors?
Not with our process. Because The Elder Statesman dyes by hand rather than machine-setting color, harsh solvents and heat can lift or bleed those dyes. We test colorfastness first and use only color-safe, low-heat methods specifically chosen to keep hand-dyed and tie-dye patterns saturated and true.
Do you offer pickup for The Elder Statesman knitwear in San Francisco?
Yes. Alex's Dry Cleaning Valet is door-to-door across San Francisco and the Bay Area — so we collect your Elder Statesman sweaters and blankets from your home and deliver them back to your door. Family-run since 1984, we specialize in delicate hand-knit cashmere. Simply call 415-338-9318 to schedule a pickup.