WHAT YOU MAY NOT KNOW:

CASHMERE IS A LUXURIOUS TEXTILE THAT IS WOVEN FROM THE COMBED HAIRS
OF GOATS FROM THE CHANGTHANG AREA OF LADAKH. OUR GOATS LIVE LONG, HAPPY LIVES TENDED TO BY TRADITIONAL GOATHERDS IN THEIR NATURAL HABITAT. THE NAME “CASHMERE”, THOUGH, HAS EVOLVED DUE TO ITS ASSOCIATION WITH THE VALLEY OF KASHMIR, INDIA, WHERE IT HAS BEEN WOVEN INTO GORGEOUS PIECES OF ART FOR MORE THAN FIVE CENTURIES. CASHMERE/KASHMIR SHAWLS HAVE LONG BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH ULTIMATE LUXURY.

MUGHAL RULERS (16TH-18TH CENTURIES) NOT ONLY APPRECIATED THESE PIECES OF ART PERSONALLY, BUT ALSO ENCOURAGED THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INDUSTRY. KASHMIR SHAWLS SOON CAUGHT THE ATTENTION OF THE EUROPEAN MARKETS, AND BECAME PART OF ELITE FASHION STARTING IN THE LATE 18TH CENTURY. THE HIGH DEMAND FOR SIMILAR PRODUCTS RESULTED IN THE EVOLUTION OF EUROPE’S OWN JACQUARD AND IMITATION TAPESTRY LOOMS IN THE 19TH CENTURY AND IRONICALLY, LED TO THE DECLINE OF THE INDIGENOUS PASHMINA INDUSTRY OF KASHMIR.