Pashmina Wool — The Golden
Fleece
 What’s
hot this season in the fashion shops of Europe and America originates in the
Himalayan kingdom of Nepal.
Pashmina shawls – popularized by fashion
magazines like VOGUE and revered by the rich and famous –
are all the rage in the West!
There has been such demands for these
shawls – light, silky, and exquisitely dyed
– as to spin a whole new industry in
Nepal.
You get the best quality pashmina at honest
prices from Rocky Mountain Emporium.
Pashmina is Persian for "wool". It is the softest fiber found in nature and
is culled from the neck and underbelly of the rare species of the capra
hircus mountain goat. Pashmina is valued and cherished for the simple
reasons that it so high quality and so little of it is produced. A goat is
capable of producing only about three ounces of pashmina wool per year. For a
typical pashmina sweater, it takes about four years for one goat to produce
enough wool!
The cashmere goat cannot be reared just anywhere; they live at altitudes
between 14,000-15,000 feet, weathering some of the harshest climates in the
Himalayas. Each Spring, the goats’ silky insulating underbelly down, profusely
mixed with an upper layer of thick and coarse dead fibers, is plucked by hand.
Extracting the pure cashmere from the coarse outer coat is a delicate and
complicated task. Unless the fibers are cleaned up to 97% purity before
spinning, the unique texture of the pashmina does not emerge.
Pashmina is often mistakenly referred to as cashmere because both the fibers
are obtained from the same goat. The two are not the same.
 Pashmina
is finer, lighter and far more luxurious than cashmere. To put it technically,
cashmere fiber is not thinner than 19 microns in diameter, whereas pashmina is
between 14-16 microns, or about a sixth of the diameter of a human hair. Fiber
thinner than this does not exist!
Europeans discovered the fine wool of the mountain goat about 200 years ago
when they came across the exquisite shawls from Kashmir. So fine was the fabric,
it could pass through a ring yet still provide the warmth of a coat. They called
it cashmere, from the place of origin. However, the Kashmiris, proud of their
skills, were unwilling to trade the secrets of working with these delicate
fibers.
When the fiber was originally taken to Scotland, it could not be woven on
regular looms. Pashmina is that fine. It was only in the late 19th century that
a Scottish manufacturer, Joseph Dawson, developed a mechanical method of
separating the fine down fibers in the goats’ fleece from the coarser outer
hairs. It was this breakthrough that spawned cashmere manufacturing units in
Scotland.
Pashmina's popularity as a fancy fiber, however, dates back to much earlier
times. They have been used by kings, queens and other royalty since the Roman
times. Much later, it was popularized by Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III
who had a shawl woven from the fiber so fine it could be drawn through her
wedding ring.
In recent years, this business has shifted back to Asia, where countries such
as China, India and Nepal compete for a growing market in the West. Lying as it
does next to the Tibetan plateau where the mountain goats are bred, Nepal is emerging as a big supplier of pashmina products worldwide. The United States
and the United Kingdom are Nepal’s major markets.
Export of pashmina products has been growing by leaps and bounds in the past
few years as their popularity soars. Export were $500,000 in
1997, they jumped to over $ 4 million a year later. In 1999, $85 million worth
of pashmina products were shipped abroad – a 21 fold increase over the previous
year.
Pure pashmina is expensive. A high-end shawl for instance will fetch as much
as $700 in the international market! Its texture is such that it grows softer with use. But it is not just for
its exquisite dyes and lightness that pashmina products are prized; it is also
for its wonderful warmth. A baby chick is said to hatch if an egg is wrapped in
pure pashmina for several days.
Pashmina shawls are woven on handlooms by expert hands. Its delicacy
demands a high level of weaving expertise. After being woven, they are dyed
individually, washed and dried before being packed for shipping.
Nepalese looms produce shawls, stoles and scarves as well as more intricate items
such as shawls with embroidery and painstaking beaded work. Pashmina is also
being woven into blankets, bed sheets and curtains.
To give that added strength, suppleness and sheen, silk is added in different
proportions to pashmina while weaving. Silk also makes the shawls lighter and
less expensive – bringing it within the reach of more consumers.
Pashmina products come in a wide array of designs and shades to suit every
season and to meet the challenging demands of the sophisticated fashion
industry.
This season, complement your dress or suit with a luxurious pashmina shawl
made in Nepal. The combined elegance with the warmth it provides will make it
quite clear that you could not have made a better choice!
Read more about the pashmina quality grades
Pashmina Ordering Options
Same Day Shipping Available!
In Stock items are shipped the same day if ordering before 2 pm (mountain time).
Specialty items do not ship the same day.
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