This stole is made of pure pashmina, the softest of the softest wool. The cream of the crop from Cashmere. Much softer than Cashmere wool, and much more exclusive. Once you've felt real pashmina, you'll never forget it. You will never be mistaken after that with scarves or clothing that may bear the name pashmina, but are not.

The difference between Cashmere and Pashmina

The Pashmina goat (officially Changthang) is found only on the plateaus of Ladakh and Tibet, at over 4,000 meters in the Himalayas. The goats have an 'upper coat' and an 'undercoat'. Only the wool of the goat's undercoat is called pashmina. This coat is thick and soft. The outer coat is used for Cashmere products, among other things, but Cashmere can come from different types of goats. In addition to India, Cashmere can also come from large farms in Australia or China. True pashmina, on the other hand, only comes from one region, from one kind of goat.

Not shaving but combing

The pashmina goats naturally lose their undercoat in the spring (the moulting period). It grows back in the winter. The undercoat of the pashmina goat is collected by combing the goat, not by shearing. This is done by the nomadic people the Changpa who herd the goats.

Production of pashmina

Raw pashmina is exported to Kashmir. All steps from combing, cleaning and aligning the fibers, spinning and weaving are traditionally done by hand. The old quarter of Srinagar city is the main center of pashmina fabric production.

The time involved in the production of this pashmina stole is approximately 180 hours.

Vegetable paint: Madder

This scarf is purely vegetable dyed with Madder (Rubia tinctoria). This plant is native to India and has now also been cultivated in Europe. Madder has been used for centuries to dye textiles a beautiful red.