ESSENTIALS

ESSENTIALS

 

MYTHS & TRUTHS

What is a pashmina?
Pashmina is the precious soft inner fleece of the Himalayan goat called the chyangra. It is also the name given to the finished product – woven or knitted and of various sizes. The goat lives some 5000 metres up in the arid and fiercely cold mountains of Tibet, Nepal and Mongolia. This super light and soft fleece is combed off each Spring to be spun into pashmina yarn. The chyangra is NEVER killed for its fleece.
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What is cashmere?
Cashmere is the homonym of ‘Kashmir’. Historically, it had the same origin as the pashmina, as the fleece was traded across the Silk Route in Central Asia. It was in Kashmir that a shawl was woven and given to Napolean Bonaparte in the 19th Century, who then presented it to his fiance, Josephine de Beauharnais, in Paris. It then quickly gained a reputation in Europe as ‘cashmere’ that lasts to this day. However, due to the dearth of pashmina yarn in Kashmir, most of the ‘cashmere’ shawls coming out of India are now made of blended yarns, including sheep wool, lamb wool, rabbit hair (angora) and the Persian goat fleece.
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“However, pashmina as it has always been known in Nepal through the ages, continues to be made there from the chyangra fleece which is much softer than all the other wools used in India” (Susi Dunsmore, Nepalese Textiles, British Museum Press, 1993).

What is a ring shawl?
One often hears that a good pashmina must be able to pass through a ring. Forget this myth! This is not necessarily the mark of a good pashmina. It all depends on how fine the yarn is, the ply, the weave and the size of the pashmina. For example, a winter piece is necessarily thicker because of multiple plying, and hence would not be able to pass through a ring. Similarly, a fake pashmina made of polyester, especially if small in size, can easily go through a ring.
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What is a shahtoosh?
Shahtoosh is the shawl made from the fleece of the chiru, a Tibetan antelope. The making of the shahtoosh involves the killing of the wild and fleet-footed chirus, even pregnant ones. Poachers continue to kill the animals and also the rangers who protect them, leaving many families in Tibet without a father or son. The chiru is now protected by the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Trading in shahtooshes is illegal and carries heavy penalties.
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What is a toosha, shamina and a patoosh?
Toosha, shamina, and patoosh are terms previously coined by marketers to deceive the buyers further as they are nothing but poor imitations of pashminas, and made from blended yarns. Some merchants further mislead people by saying that their pieces are made from the first shearing of a lamb, or that they come from the chin or even the eyebrows of the goat! 
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From which part of the body does the fleece come from?
From the innercoat all over the body, not the chin nor the eyebrow! The quality of the fleece depends on the living condition and diet of the chyangra.

 

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHETHER YOUR PASHMINA IS GENUINE?

  1. Genuine hand woven pashminas are precious and expensive, and never sold in street bazaars, souvenir shops and general or departmental stores. It is sad that mass-produced fake pashminas made of synthetics like rayon, polyester and acrylic are flooding the market, further confusing the innocent buyers. Be aware that these are likely to distort upon washing, and the cheap dyes used are not colour fast and do cause skin cancers. They are and look cheap. They are NOT pashminas.

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  1. Real pashminas are either made entirely of fleece from the chyangra, or with a silk component either in the warp or weft. Both pashmina and silk are natural fibres. Pure (100%) pashminas generally cost much more than one with a silk component, because weight for weight, silk yarn costs only about 20% of pashmina yarn. Some shawls are also woven with a linen or cotton component.
  1. To test whether a pashmina is made of natural fibres, burn a small ball of fluff taken off the sides or ends of the shawl. If the result is a hard lump of plastic, the shawl is synthetic. If it is natural, the resultant ash would disintegrate when lightly pressed. However, ‘pashminas’ made from other species of goats, or sheep will also yield ash using this test technique.
  1. Pashminas that fluff into small balls are not necessarily of poor quality. Because it is so fine, constant friction and frequent handling will cause this. This is also the case with pashminas that are less tightly woven by choice – in accordance with design or desire of clients. To minimise this, always store and carry a pashmina in a cotton or linen pouch, and also to take care to minimize friction while it is being worn. (A pashmina made from synthetic or blended yarn does not fluff, so it does not mean it is a good pashmina. Also, a pashmina with a silk component will fluff less than a pure pashmina, all else equal.)
  1. Those with an eye for quality or understand textiles and textures can tell a fake from a real pashmina simply by looking at how it falls. Shawls made from synthetic or inferior fibres are lifeless, more shiny or simply poorly finished as it is not worth the producers resources to do a good finishing job.
  1. If you cannot tell from touching, the next best recourse is to buy from those who DIRECTLY make or create them. Not from traders, merchants, or pop-up stores/stalls that are interested in making a quick sale even if it means giving you incorrect or misleading information.

 

WHY IS PASHMINA EXPENSIVE?

    1. We use genuine high quality pashmina fleece. Most others have wool, anggora hair, and even synthetics blended into them. To make them soft, these fakes are industrially treated  and will deteriorate with time.
  1. Only non-carcinogenic, ecologically friendly, colourfast Swiss dyes are used. Others use imitation and low quality dyes of dubious origins that cause skin cancers, damage the environment, and run in the rain or when washed.
  2. Due to the nature of our work which involves the local community, only traditional handlooms are used. Our dyeing and finishing are also completely done by hand. Each step of the process is quality-controlled. We don’t employ machines to weave, dye and press, but real people. These days, we see a lot of mass-produced ‘pashminas’ that are churned out by powerlooms in China. These are cheap because they are synthetic.
  3. It is difficult to embellish high quality pashminas with beads or embroidery because it is too soft. Only low-grade pashminas are so embellished to camouflage their coarseness. Much of the embellishing work is done in India after merchants collect them from the weavers in Nepal. Very rarely do we embellish our pieces, preferring users to feel their natural softness. When we do, it is done on a very limited scale on the shawl. All our pieces are made in Nepal from start to finish. Our unique designs require much experimentation, as our art is in the weave, texture, and design, not in the embellishment.
  4. We work with our weavers and develop our own weaves. We pay our weavers fairly, in advance, in full, and without delay. Others are traders and take on credit or consignment, or don’t pay on time or in full.

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WAYS TO USE YOUR PASHMINA

    1. Travel — the ultimate versatile travel partner: in cold cabins and airports, during sightseeing, and at a Broadway or West End show
  1. Office — adds style and colour while keeping you warm, instead of the often clinical, constrictive, and common cardigan
  2. Events (formal and casual) — at cocktails, dinners, parties, weddings, inaugurations, graduations, operas, concerts, theatres, cinemas
  3. Gift for your spouse, sibling, parent, friend, client, lover, boss, colleague or anyone you fancy
  4. Conferences, lectures, and seminars in cold air-conditioned places
  5. Meditation or while contemplating in a cool surrounding
  6. When you want to accent or accessorise your outfit for the day — as a ponytail tie, handbag tie, or as a scarf
  7. At a mountain spa or ski resort
  8. Open air-performances and walks in the park on cool days
  9. Sitting in the open or at the patio watching the world go by, or by the breezy beach while watching the sun rise or set
  10. Cosy wrap – while reading, or when unwell
  11. Chilly spring and winter mornings, and cold desert evenings
  12. Cruising on cool days and nights when your car top is down or on the motorbike — as a muffler around the neck and ears, or as a head-cover
  13. When you’re unsure of the weather and you don’t fancy bringing a bulky sweater or jacket
  14. When you want to feel extra-elegant and warm in that gown, and an itchy alpaca or woollen wrap just won’t do
  15. When you want to feel comforted or consoled, or during days when everything seems down
  16. As a light blanket (or soft pillow) when watching TV, shifting by the fireplace, or while breast-feeding
  17. When you wish to be comfortable and warm around the house, and free of the restrictions of clothing
  18. In bed — as a light luxurious duvet when the mood hits you

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