Pashmina Categories
Pashmina Guide
Authentic Pashmina
Pashimina is a delicate and beautiful fabric used in weaving exquisite shawls, stoles, scarves, and sweaters. Pashmina shawls are popular the world over for their extra softness, quality and warmth. Authentic pashmina is expensive, as it comes from the Himalayan mountain goats located 15,000 feet above sea level, in extreme cold conditions where the temperature is around -30º centigrade. Each goat produces about 5 - 6 ounces of pure pashmina in one year, and it takes about four goats to produce enough wool to make one pashmina shawl. A full pashmina shawl measuring 30” x 80” requires 24 ounces of wool.
Pure pashmina has an open weave appearance about it because the wool strand is delicate and cannot take high tension. Most pashmina shawls available constitute 70% pashmina and 30% silk. A 50/50 blend is also available, which cuts down the cost of a pashmina shawl quite substantially. However, the 70/30 blend is more lustrous than pure pashmina due to presence of the silk thread, and has a tighter weave as well. It retains almost similar softness and weight.
As pashmina shawls became popular in the western markets, unscrupulous traders found an opportunity to make a quick buck. They started passing on pashmina blends as pure pashmina, and made huge profits in the process. They claimed the pashmina-silk blends as more superior to the 19th century pure pashmina on grounds of the extra sheen that the silk thread provided. The gullible consumer, not so educated about pashmina, paid the price for a product that was not authentic pashmina.
Pashmina shawls and stoles were also sold using viscose in the weave. It was not as warm and luxurious as pure pashmina. Some companies would even go on to market their product as “authentic viscose pashmina”. They sell at a price far lower than pure authentic pashmina. If you are being sold a “pure” pashmina product at lower prices, be on guard.
Caution: 100% pure and authentic pashmina will not wrinkle when crushed into a ball. However, only experts can tell pure pashmina apart from a blend. So, insist on a certificate of authenticity from the seller.