Pashmina silk and cashmere by Pashm story

Pashmina, from the Persian word for wool, is popularly known in the west as cashmere wool, from the old spelling for Kashmir. The fine wool comes from the undercoat of the Himalayan mountain goat, which lives in the most remote regions of the Tibetan Plateau. For over a thousand years cashmere has been woven into shawls and blankets, prized by royalty and common people alike for its otherworldly softness, warmth, and long life. For many centuries Kashmir was the only place the fiber could be woven into shawls, according to treaties that gave the Maharaja of Kashmir exclusive rights to Tibet's pashmina supply. Today most of the world's pashmina shawls are woven on handlooms in Nepal's Kathmandu Valley. And most are woven on a warp of spun silk for increased suppleness and strength. In recent years this silk and cashmere blend has become the darling of the western fashion world.

Pashm began as a weaving and dyeing workshop in 1992, under the direction of its American designer-owner, David Muir. During its first few years it was based "in the field" where necessary experience and knowledge could be gained. Strong ties were made with a traditional weaving village in northern India that continue today. In the years that followed, thousands of meters of hand loomed silk, linen and handspun cotton fabric were woven. In 1994 a retail shop was opened in Kathmandu. This early incarnation of Pashm functioned as a textile design studio and custom tailoring shop with a team of nine tailors, and an assortment of other staff. The weaving staff was soon moved to Kathmandu from northern India.

Until this time we had not woven with pashmina as it required a very different type of loom. But eventually, we could not resist pashmina's temptation. We closed the retail shop to devote ourselves to pashmina weaving and dyeing. Pashm was born.

Other than a few of our favorite earlier handspun silk qualities, we are now dedicated to making the highest quality pashmina products. We innovate, and adhere to the best aspects of pashmina weaving tradition. We have gathered a core group of highly skilled weavers and dyers, and have become somewhat reclusive at our workshop/factory in Bansbari (Nepali for "bamboo grove"), in the Kathmandu valley, so we can better meet the demands of our customers around the world. David divides his time now between the office in New York City and the workshop in Bansbari.

The pashmina fiber used by Pashm is from the high arid regions of Western Tibet. It is considered to be among the finest in the world. The Himalayan mountain goat, raised by semi-nomadic herders, yields from 3-8 ounces of fiber per year. The Tibetan Plateau provides the ideal environment for pashmina growth. The fiber is exceptionally absorbent, and it dyes very easily and deeply.

The fiber is collected every spring and is spun either by hand or mechanically. Pashm uses both. Though we make a pure handspun pashmina blanket and shawl we do not offer it on the web site because of the irregular supply of yarn. Please contact us if you are interested in pure handspun cashmere items.

Our weaving is all done by hand on looms specially made for our work. We traveled to a village near the temple city of Varanasi in India to find a loom maker from the old school to build our looms to meet our exacting standards. Most textile production has been converted to power looms, but pashmina yarn is too fragile for the force of the power loom. Our weaving master is from a very long line of master weavers, dating back to the wave of Mughal craftspeople that came to India around the time of the construction of the Taj Mahal. Our other weavers are young Nepali-Tibetan women. They also do the finishing of the ends on our shawls and blankets. It takes one person an entire day to twist and knot the ends of one shawl.

Dyeing at Pashm is also done by hand, each piece individually. Our dyer has over 40 years experience and infinite patience. We use Sandoz metal-free and azo-free dyes. This is the Swiss company's new generation of eco-friendly dyes. The water we use for dyeing is pumped up from 80 ft beneath the surface. Pure Himalayan water. The Sandoz dyes are very fast to light and warm water washing. We dye at a temperature just below boiling for about 40 minutes. The woven item is first rinsed in hot water, then in cool water, and finally washed with an Aveda shampoo. We dye in a range of 170 colors, mostly based on nature: actual flowers, iridescent feathers, minerals, and autumn leaves, as well as current fashion colors including lip and eye colors.

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