Today, the word 'Pashmina' or 'Cashmere', is used too liberally and Shawls, Mufflers, scarves etc, made from synthetic fiber are sold as Pashmina. This has not only belittled a 'Precious creation', but has also created confusion.
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| The Source. |
Going back to the origin: sources consider Pashmina crafts were introduced by Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani In 14th-century, he had come to Kashmir along with 700 craftsmen from different parts of Persia. He was the first one in history to discover that the Ladakhi goats produced soft wool. He made socks out of their wool and gifted to the king of Kashmir, sultan Kutabdin. Hamadani then suggested setting up a shawl weaving industry in Kashmir. (even today, the master craftsmen in Kashmir pay tribute at Hamdani's grave).
The name 'Pashmina', comes from Persian: pašmina, meaning "made from wool" and literally translates to "Soft Gold".
The Cost Factor:
The price of a Pashmina shawl is due to the quantum of expert craftsmanship that goes into creating each shawl and the rarity of the Pashmina wool - the wool used in an authentic Kashmiri Pashmina comes from the Changpa breed of the capra hircus goat, a special breed indigenous to high altitudes of himalyas. It sheds its winter coat (80 to 150gm of fiber) every spring and this breed constitutes less than 0.1% of global Cashmere production. It is a very delicate fiber and it is about 12-13.5 microns thin.
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| Its Fleece |
These goats produce a double fleece that consists of a fine, soft undercoat of hair mingled with a straighter and much coarser outer coating of hair called guard hair. For the fine underdown to be sold and processed further, it is de-haired, a process that separates the coarse hair from the fine hair. After de-hairing, & washing the ‘Pashmina’ is ready to be spun, dyed and woven into fabric.
An 'Authentic Pashmina' should go through the whole process; starting from the gathering of 100% finest organic wool, to the spinning, the weaving & the embroidering.
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| The Spinning of the fleece into yarn. |
A skilled professional hand spins the pashmina fibre, about twenty grams per day so about 15 days of spinning gets the yarn for one shawl. This is then woven into shawls, Stoles, Scarves, Mufflers etc, on hand looms, in plain weave or a diamond weave or a herringbone weave. Then comes the colouring, which is done with natural dyes.
To give the Pashmina Shawl an elegant finish the fringes are hand twisted and knotted.
The Pashmina Shawls can be either plain or embroidered with silk threads using a single yarn.
There is a whole lot to talk about the styles, motifs & various categories in Hand embroidery on Shawls that would follow in my next post.
The difference of an Authentic Pashmina 'Jewel' that you get your hands on & the commercial one is:
a- The commercialy produced so called Pashmina obtains its soft texture due to the chemicals used in the process.
b- The power loom can produce anything between 10-200 shawls in a day throwing about 20 hand loom weavers out of work.
c- The handloom produces 1 shawl in 15-20 days.
d- Observe the commercialy produced shawl against light to see the symitrical looking weave.
e- Now observe the handmade shawl which will not have consistent weave which are the characteristics of the fiber & the hand spun yarn.
Do not settle for a fake Pashmina when you can posses a 'Jewel Pashmina' that can be passed down and appreciated through generations.
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