Today most of the world's pashmina shawls are woven on handlooms in Nepal's Kathmandu valley. They are usually woven on a warp of spun silk for increased suppleness and strength. Our pashmina shawls are spun and woven in Nepal. Once woven, each piece is individually hand dyed.

In Nepal and India pashmina has appealed for generations; the western world has been slow to discover its unique qualities. Exceptionally soft and light, yet extremely warm, pashmina has become the most indispensible and versatile accessory to penetrate the fashion world in decades.

Pashmina fibre is derived from a species of mountain goat called Chyangra (capra hirus), the same goat which cashmere comes from, except that this one lives way up in the Himalayas. It is native to the Himalayan belt which is more than 10,000 ft above sea level, and it thrives there despite the lack of vegetation and the extremely cold winters. Nature has blessed the Chyangra with a very thin, short inner coat of hair which provides the best natural insulation in the world.

The real pashmina is the fine inner (under) growth over which the goat has another layer of thick and coarse dead fibres. We use an extremely complicated technique to extract the pure pashmina from the beds of coarse dead fibres, since the real fibre is deeply embedded.

Consequently pashmina is the best cashmere wool in the world. Cashmere is defined as any wool under 19 microns thick (a human hair is 75 microns); pashmina is only 12-14 microns thick.