THE PROVENANCE

Originating from a place where temperatures drop to negative 40 degrees, Pashmina - one of the most sought-after fabrics in the world - comes from very humble beginnings. This journey from sheep hair to some of the finest woollens ever made starts with the Chanthangi Goat that reside at heights of 15,000 feet above sea level in the unforgiving Himalayan desert plateaus of Leh - Ladakh. The intense cold of the region causes the goats to grow a thick undercoat, which is harvested to produce the fine pashmina grade of cashmere. Weaving a single piece of Pashmina involves a multitude of herders and craftspeople and helps sustain a circular mountain ecosystem.

Changthangi_Goats_in_Ladakh

This goat too is exotic and while they're adaptable to extreme climates and terrain, they still require extreme care. The fine hairs are collected through a process of combing the sheep with long steel combs made specifically for this purpose.

Pashmina fibre collected and ready to be cleaned and processed.

THE PROCESS

Once the hairs are combed and collected, the cleaning process starts. This step is crucial and done with very high attention to detail, ensuring that not a single impurity remains in the final yarn that is made. After hand-cleaning and carding by hand, the fibre is left out to dry in the sun. This leg of the journey is capped off by hand spinning the fibres on wooden spindles which turns the fibres into balls of yarn.

Each step is critical and plays a big role in how the final product turns out.

Pashmina Yarn - Spun and ready to be woven/knit.

THE PRODUCT

The fibres of the Pashmina yarn is extremely fine which makes it extremely difficult to weave and work with. Before the weaving starts, the process of warping the yarn has to be done manually with thousands of strands of yarn being warped around vertical iron rods. Once this is achieved, the weavers then mount it on the loom and work on it like a pianist performing a solo or an artist painting a masterpiece.