Spring
Combing
As the goats start to shed in spring, herders comb the soft undercoat out by hand with a fine comb. Nothing is sheared; the goat keeps its outer coat.
WhoChangpa herders
01 · The story
Born of the cold, finished in the valley.
On the Changthang plateau, winters are long and bitterly cold. To survive them, Changthangi goats grow a dense, downy undercoat beneath their coarse outer hair. When the weather turns in spring, the goats begin to shed, and herders comb the down out by hand before it is lost to the wind.
The raw fibre travels west to the Kashmir valley. There, women clean and spin it on wooden wheels, and weavers turn the yarn into shawls on hand-looms. A plain pashmina may pass through a dozen pairs of hands; an embroidered or kani-woven one, many more.
The word “cashmere” comes from the old English spelling of Kashmir. Today it is used for goat down from many countries, often machine-spun. Kashmir Pashmina is the original: Himalayan fibre, worked by hand, protected by a Geographical Indication.
“A good yarn cannot be hurried. If I spin too fast, the thread breaks; too slow, it turns thick. The wheel teaches patience.”[Spinner name] · Srinagar
- 2001A court luxury
Kashmiri pashmina shawls become prized gifts in royal courts across the region.
- 2003“Cashmere” goes global
Kashmir shawls reach Europe, and the valley's name becomes a word for fine goat wool.
- 2010Machine competition
Machine-spun blends and mislabelled “pashmina” flood markets and push hand-spinners out of work.
- 2015Geographical Indication
“Kashmir Pashmina” is registered as a GI, with lab testing and labels for genuine hand-made pieces.
- TodayBack to the hand
Spinner collectives and direct buyers are bringing fair prices back to every stage of the chain.
