Scarves

A scarf, in the Kashmiri sense, is a smaller meditation on the same patience that produces a shawl. The fleece arrives from the Changthangi goats of Ladakh, is hand-cleaned in Srinagar workshops, then drawn into yarn fine enough to pass through a ring. From there, weavers settle at pit looms for weeks at a time. Many of the pieces in this archive carry sozni work along their borders — a discipline we explore in the patience of Sozni embroidery — while others rely on the quiet character of the fibre itself, a subject covered in pashmina and cashmere compared. For those new to the material, our guide to cashmere grading may be a useful place to begin. Scarves do wedding duty too — for guests most of all. A fine wool-silk or pashmina scarf in a rich tone sits lighter than a full shawl, covers shoulders through a ceremony, and reads as part of the outfit in photographs rather than something borrowed against the cold. We keep a dedicated wedding edit, and our Birmingham shop in Stirchley will happily match a scarf to the outfit in person.