Shawls

A shawl from Kashmir begins long before the loom. It begins on the high plateaus of Ladakh, where the Changthangi goat sheds a winter underfleece so fine it is measured in microns, then carried down through Srinagar workshops where spinners, dyers, weavers and embroiderers each add a hand. Some pieces in this edit are woven plain and worn for their weight alone; others carry months of needlework drawn from a centuries-old vocabulary of paisley and vine. To understand what you are holding, it helps to read how heritage pashmina is made, the patience behind Sozni needlework, and how to recognise a pure pashmina.