FAQs

 

Why is Pashmina wool so fine and so warm?

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Pashmina wool is taken from a breed of goat that lives in the Himalayas in Ladakh at more than 4000 meters. To protect itself from the cold it produces extremely fine hair, especially under the chin. Given the fineness of the yarn, the weaving is particularly delicate but it allows the production of a particularly light and warm fabric.

 

Visible irregularities in the weaving of an authentic Pashmina ... Do they reveal a quality issue?

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No, on the contrary they are a sign of authenticity! Manual weaving does not allow a perfectly constant tension to be applied to the thread, which creates slight irregularities in the weft and contributes to the charm of an authentic Pashmina. Mechanical weaving of Pashmina is possible but it requires a chemical process to give more strength to the thread. The rendering is a sadly regular frame, not to mention the chemicals that may remain in the fabric.

 

 

Why does a real Pashmina not have knotted fringes but only very short uncut fringes?

 

It is an ancestral practice in the traditional manufacture of pashmina in Kashmir. The fabric is simply cut short on the loom and the wool is so fine that it holds naturally. Tying longer fringes would totally change the aesthetics of the Pashmina.

 

What is the reason for the slight embroidery that can sometimes be found on the corner of a Pashmina?

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Once woven, the Pashminas can be washed and rinsed. This work is carried out in rivers of clear and very lively water. The light embroidery is the signature of the weaver who can thus find his articles among others.

 

 

 

Why is an authentic Pashmina an expensive item?

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It is the price of the wool and the consequent work of the weaving which makes the Pashmina so expensive.

The price of quality Pashmina raw wool reaches 250€/kg. A Stole (200cmx70cm) weighs around 100g and uses around €30 worth of wool!

Weaving a simple plain Stole requires 3 to 4 days of work. Pashminas with woven patterns in Ikat or Kani require even more work, sometimes several weeks.

Under these conditions it is simply impossible to find a real Pashmina for less than 100€.

 

 

Who launched the Pashmina fashion?

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The person who introduced and launched the Pashmina fashion in Europe was Joséphine de Beauharnais after Napoleon made her wear one bought from Persian traders in Egypt.

Josephine is conquered. She built up at great expense a collection of several hundred pieces   and promoted it in the European royal courts.

Passed into disuse, the Pashmina found its letters of nobility at the end of the 90s as a luxury fashion accessory.

 

 

Where can we buy Pashminas and at what price?

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The Pashmina is a fashion accessory widely worn within the Indian elite. 

Little exported, the real Pashmina is rare in Europe. It can be found in luxury stores such as Bon Marché in Paris or Harrod's in London. You will have to pay several hundred Euros for the simplest ones and with a limited choice.

For the past ten years, some online sales sites have been offering real Pashminas. The choice is often limited and the first prices start at 200€.

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Ecopash gets its supplies directly from the manufacturers, which eliminates the margin of the intermediaries. Ecopash can thus offer the best quality at very competitive prices: scarves from €99 and shawls from €139, which positions Ecopash as the cheapest Pashmina brand on the market.

Ecopash also offers a wide range of Pashminas of all sizes, plain or with patterns.

The Pashminas offered by Ecopash are unique pieces selected from existing stocks. Ecopash's choice is mainly for items that have rather contemporary designs developed by young Indian designers.

 

 

Is a Pashmina scarf or shawl a unisex item?

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Worn as a scarf or a shawl thrown over the shoulders, and with brightly colored patterns, the Pashmina is a very feminine item.

But men will also appreciate the qualities of the Pashmina, in particular worn as a scarf and with a choice more focused on more sober patterns and less bright colors.

 

Why is there a huge supply of fake Pashminas?

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Pashmina is produced in Kashmir in the city of Srinagar, a poor region in northern India. Until now, the Indian textile industry has failed to acquire legal tools to label the Pashmina. The term Pashmina can therefore be legally used for items that do not use real Pashmina wool. As a result, many machine-woven scarves or shawls with other wools, cotton and even viscose are sold very cheaply under the name Pashmina.

 

How to verify the authenticity of a Pashmina?

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The touch of a Pashmina is unique. It is very thin, very fluid and very light.

But recognizing a real Pashmina is not easy as fiber and fabric processing techniques have evolved to imitate Pashmina.

 

• A Pashmina is so fine that it can pass through a ring, which other yarns cannot

• A Pashmina is very warm. As soon as you wear it, you feel its warmth

• If you look very closely, you can see that the weft is not perfectly regular and that the wool is not perfectly carded (there are still impurities)

• A Pashmina woven in Cashmere does not have knotted fringes at both ends of the fabric. Only short fringes are visible 

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What is the fabric called 'Shahtoosh'?

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The Shahtoosh is a wool from an antelope that lives exclusively in Tibet on the Chantang plateau. The animal produces a particularly fine and warm down. It is by exploiting the know-how of Pashmina weaving in Kashmir that this wool is woven to make fabrics. The animal having remained completely wild, the only way to collect its precious wool is to slaughter it. This practice is now totally illegal. Indeed the population of antelopes is on the decline and justifies the prohibition of its trade. It takes no less than 4 antelopes to weave a stole.

Although prohibited, the price of a Shahtoosh shawl can be negotiated at several thousand Euros.

The Shahtoosh is part of the list of contraband products banned from trade worldwide and is wanted by customs. Possession of a Shahtoosh is punishable by confiscation and fines that may exceed 1000 Euros.