PASHM~ means woollen in Hindustan and the word Pashmina means Cashmere Kashmir in India, it is also known as Cashmere in Europe and America. Pashmina comes from the neck and underbelly of a kind of goats called Capra-Hircus, which only grazes at elevations of 15,000 feet in the west Himalayan Mountains, the higher Capra-Hircus lives, the finer the pashmina it is.

Some people do not really know the actual difference between Pashmina and Cashmere. Karl Spilhaus, the president of Boston's Cashmere and Camel Hair Manufacturers Institute said "Pashmina is just cashmere … there's no difference between the two. the Pashmina is simply the Indian word for cashmere."  So that we know both Pashmina and Cashmere are from Capra-Hircus, people just call them differently. He also said “A good quality cashmere shawl is worth very dime you pay for it, and it will last you a lifetime."

Pashmina is the most well-known product from Nepal, and Cashmere is mainly come from Inner Mongolia. Both of them could give keep you warm in a cold weather, however, Cashmere is mainly used to produce coats, blankets and knitwear, and Pashmina is much thinner and softer compared with Cashmere, so it is mainly used to produce fashion accessories like scarves, shawls and stoles etc. due to its thinness and softness.

Pashmina products are usually made of 100% Pashmina wool and different ratios of Pashmina wool and pure silk. 100% Pashmina products are suitable for very cold weather during the winters, whereas the 70% Pashmina / 30% silk products are heavier, smoother and softer, so they can be worn all year round to give you most fashionable look and warmth.  

Some Pashmina Facts

• It takes 4 years to get a Capra-Hircus sheep grown up the enough hair to weave a Cashmere woolen sweater.
• The Cashmere wool more easily absorbs the water than the ordinary wool.
• The diameter of Cashmere has to be less then 19 microns (the diameter of our hair is about 75 microns)
• According to experts, the Cashmere could keep warm 8 times better than ordinary wool

by Julia Lyon

 

At fundraisers and gallery openings and on strolls around town, New York women are bracing against the cold with pashmina. The luxurious swath of cloth now used as an oversized shawl was once a status symbol owned by a select few. Although Europeans had long been aware of the fabric (made of hairs shorn from the underbelly of Himalayan goats), most Americans only recently discovered its plush, softer-than-cashmere textures. Now bright accents of pink and baby blue pashmina are the most distinctive accessory to the affluent woman's urban uniform.

"We think it's one of those staples to your wardrobe, like the little black dress, that's not going to change or go away," says Jackie Robbins, co-owner of the Pashmina Trunk Show. Some women are buying multiple shawls, with beading, embroidery or London's latest fad: graduated color. Carrie Bradshaw sported one on HBO's "Sex and the City" and women's magazines like Redbook and InStyle have been touting the fabric as a must-have for months. Until recently, pashmina shawls cost upward of $300-$400; now they are available for less than $200.

The flipside to the costly craze is that some women wouldn't be caught dead in it. "You know how I feel about pashmina," bemoans Ingrid deGranier, co-owner of Find Outlet in New York City. But merchants are confident of the staying power of demand, and dozens of websites like Yamuna Pashmina now offer the item at increasingly low prices. "It will never be dirt cheap," says Robbins, since scarcity makes pure pashmina a luxury even in the Himalayas. And market-watchers like Lisa Merkatz of Pashmina New York foresee an increased versatility for the product. She currently offers pillow slipcovers and hats made out of pashmina.

In the mountains of Nepal and India, local weavers knead, dye and combine pashmina goat hairs (which are thinner than cashmere) with silk (often in a 70-to-30 or 80-to-20 ratio) to give the material durability and luster. (Scarves and shawls that are 100% pashmina are typically coarse and too fragile to wear, although designers like Carolina Herrera and Donatella Versace have integrated the fabric into their past collections.) A large portion of the material then passes through numerous middlemen, raising the price exorbitantly and opening the door for wide variations in quality. "There's no regulation on pashmina; there's no stamp of approval," comments Merkatz, though she and other buyers feel confident in the reliability of their product. Most websites guarantee the quality of the pashmina and do accept returns.

Today many department stores carry the fabric, and many smaller Tibetan boutiques like Sega Carpet New York sell pashmina shawls and scarves as a bread-and-butter item. Although many Tibetans commonly wear prayer shawls, the colorful wraps are specifically geared toward westerners and should not be confused with traditional clothing. Nevertheless, Save Tibet crusaders can't be unhappy to know that these merchants are profiting from the fad, even if most buyers are less interested in history than in how they look. —Julia Lyon

 

The latest trends in fashion start on the local level and spread across the nation—often before you can blink twice. "Suddenly in Style" profiles focus on the latest must-have pieces and how they came to be. Spotted something new recently? Contact Julia Lyon.

Pashmina is the traditional name for the very finest grade of cashmere wool. Because of its unique softness and comforting warmth, pashmina is also known as the diamond fabric and the soft gold of high Asia. Put simply, it is the finest, softest and warmest wool available anywhere.

This amazing cashmere comes exclusively from the underbelly of the Capra Hircus goat, in the most remote regions of the Himalayas. Because they live approximately 14,000 feet above sea level, these special goats grow a thin, inner coat of hair that insulates them during the long, harsh Himalayan winters. It is this unique inner coat of hair that is used to produce pashmina. Each hair is about 1/6th the diameter of most other types of hair - but is still surprisingly durable while being stunningly soft and comforting to human skin.
You may be surprised to discover that it takes the entire annual growth of three of these goats to create just one pashmina shawl. But take comfort in the fact that these goats are not harmed during the process of producing pashmina. This is because the wool is collected only after being shed naturally. It is almost like this special cashmere wool is the goats' gift to everyone. And what an amazing gift it is!
Pashmina is also quite unusual in that it actually becomes softer and more comfortable with each use, actually making it gentler on your skin each and every time you have the luck to wear it. With proper care, the diamond fabric will last a lifetime or more. This is evident in the fact that pashminas have been handed down from generation to generation in royal and wealthy families throughout the world.
 
It is interesting to note that Napoleon may have started the pashmina fashion craze over 200 years ago when he presented a pashmina shawl to his wife. She was so pleased with the shawl that she asked Napoleon to get more so she could share them with her fashionable society friends. Two hundred years later pashmina remains an essential part of a fashionable wardrobe and popular wedding and bridesmaid gifts, attesting to the durability and widespread appeal of this classic accessory.

In general, dry cleaning is the preferred method of washing for pashmina and cashmere care. However, you can hand wash occassionally if you are careful and follow a few guidelines that are listed below. We do suggest washing it before first use to make sure the natural vegetable dyes do not bleed.
In general, dry cleaning is the preferred method of washing for pashmina and cashmere care. However, you can hand wash occassionally if you are careful and follow a few guidelines that are listed below. We do suggest washing it before first use to make sure the natural vegetable dyes do not bleed.
To wash by hand, first use very cold water. You may add a little soft detergent such as baby shampoo or Woolite if you wish but please be certain the detergent is completely dissolved first. Then wash very gently by hand while being very careful with the hand-tied tassels if you are washing a pashmina accessory.
After washing, please do not wring dry. Simply lay it flat to dry. Once dry, you may warm iron but it is best to put a piece of paper or cloth between the iron and the fabric.
That's it. Proper pashmina and cashmere care is actually easy. Now it is time to enjoy!

Pashmina refers to a type of cashmere wool and textiles made from it. The name comes from Pashmineh, made from Persian pashm (= "wool"). This wool comes from a special breed of goat indigenous to high altitudes of the Himalayan mountains. The special goat's fleece has been used for thousands of years to make high-quality shawls that also bear the same name. The Himalayan Mountain goat, Capra hircus, sheds its winter coat every spring and the fleece is caught on thorn bushes. One goat sheds approximately 3-8 ounces of the fiber. Villages would scour the mountainside for the finest fleece to be used. Cashmere shawls have been manufactured in Kashmir and Nepal for thousands of years, but the Indians never called them "pashmina". They were popularly called Kashmiri wool shawls. The test for a quality pashmina has been warmth, feel and the passing the shawl through a wedding ring.

Pashmina is an indigenous Nepali word which only became popular after the so-named shawls, woven in Nepal, started being popular in the west. What are commonly thought of as pashminas have their origin in Nepal, where the people have a cultural heritage of hand-weaving pashmina shawls with the well-known fringing and hand dyeing.

A pashmina shawl can range in cost from as little as about $35US for a pure pashmina scarf up to hundreds of $US for a super high-quality pure pashmina shawl. They are known for their softness and warmth. A craze for pashminas in the mid-1990's resulted in high demand for pashminas, so demand exceeded supply.

To meet the demands of cashmere lovers, the goats are now commercially reared in the Gobi Desert area in Inner and Outer Mongolia. The region has identical harsh weather conditions to those of the Himalayan region, and is thereby apt for the goats to grow this inner wool, but also has acres of grazing ground to produce cashmere economically and commercially. During spring (Molting Season), the goats shed this inner wool, which they develop all over again during the course of the winter. The inner wool is collected, sheared and spun to produce cashmere. The quality is just as high, while the costs have become more reasonable as a result.

Pashmina accessories are available in a range of sizes, from "scarf" (12" x 60") to "wrap" or "stole" (28" x 80") to fullsize shawl (36" x 80"). Pure pashmina is a rather gauzy, open weave, as the wool cannot tolerate high tension. The most popular pashmina fabric is a 70% pashmina/30% silk blend, but 50/50 is also common. The 70/30 is tightly woven, has an elegant sheen and drapes nicely, but is still quite soft and light-weight.

When pashmina shawls rose into fashion prominence during the mid 90’s, they were marketed dubiously. Cashmere used for pashmina shawls was claimed to be of a superior quality attributable to the enhanced sheen and softness that the fabric (cashmere blended with silk) encompassed. In the consuming markets, pashmina shawls were again defined as a shawl/wrap with cashmere and silk, notwithstanding the actual meaning of pashmina - which is technically an accessory of pure pashmina and not the blend. Following up, some unscrupulous companies marketed the man-made fabric viscose as "pashmina" with deceptive marketing statements as "authentic viscose pashmina". These are often sold for a very low price, leaving the buyer to decide whether it is authenticity, quality, or price that motivates their purchase.