What is Pashmina ?
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, pashm, from
the Persian word for "wool," refers to the underfur of certain
Tibetan animals, particularly goats, commonly used for the making of shawls.
We used a print edition of the esteemed dictionary, since an online edition
won't be available until next year. In contrast, pashmina, as we've seen
it on the Internet and in fashion magazines and mail-order catalogs, is
a textile blend of silk and cashmere.
Oddly enough, it's a word which doesn't appear in the usual online dictionaries,
or even in our Webster's. And yet, if you search for "pashmina"
on Yahoo!, you'll find a host of sites offering pashmina shawls and scarves
--in fact, pashmina seems to be this year's trendiest fashion fabric.
Most of the information we were able to find comes from merchants selling
pashmina products, so we had to read between the lines of copy, the alluring
color charts, and lovely images for accurate information.
The pashmina we see on the Web and in local stores is
usually a 80/20, 70/30 or even a 50/50 blend of cashmere and silk respectively.
This is said to produce a strong yet supple, lightweight, luxurious wrap
for evening or day-time wear. Most vendors claim that the wool in their
pashmina is produced by very special Himalayan goats. Cashmere refers
to the fine wool from the undercoat of these Kashmir goats -- we get the
idea that pashmina is the crème de la crème of cashmere.
An article called "Suddenly in Style: Pashmina"
turned up on a Google search and seems to offer the definitive scoop.
This jewel-toned, single-ply, must-have accessory is crafted in the mountains
of India and Nepal, where pashmina goat hairs are combined with silk to
create a yarn with "durability and luster" and a heavenly feel.
At fundraisers and gallery openings and on strolls
around town, New York women are bracing against the cold with pashmina.
The luxurious swath of cloth now used as an oversized shawl was once a
status symbol owned by a select few. Although Europeans had long been
aware of the fabric (made of hairs shorn from the underbelly of Himalayan
goats), most Americans only recently discovered its plush, softer-than-cashmere
textures. Now bright accents of pink and baby blue pashmina are the most
distinctive accessory to the affluent woman's urban uniform.
"We think it's one of those staples to your
wardrobe, like the little black dress, that's not going to change or go
away," says Jackie Robbins, co-owner of the Pashmina Trunk Show.
Some women are buying multiple shawls, with beading, embroidery or London's
latest fad: graduated color. Carrie Bradshaw sported one on HBO's "Sex
in the City" and women's magazines like Redbook and InStyle have
been touting the fabric as a must-have for months. Until recently, pashmina
shawls cost upward of $300-$400; now they are available for less than
$200.
The flipside to the costly craze is that some women
wouldn't be caught dead in it. "You know how I feel about pashmina,"
bemoans Ingrid deGranier, co-owner of Find Outlet in New York City. But
merchants are confident of the staying power of demand, and dozens of
websites like Yamuna Pashmina now offer the item at increasingly low prices.
"It will never be dirt cheap," says Robbins, since scarcity
makes pure pashmina a luxury even in the Himalayas. And market-watchers
like Lisa Merkatz of Pashmina New York foresee an increased versatility
for the product. She currently offers pillow slipcovers and hats made
out of pashmina.
In the mountains of Nepal and India, local weavers
knead, dye and combine pashmina goat hairs (which are thinner than cashmere)
with silk (often in a 70-to-30 or 80-to-20 ratio) to give the material
durability and luster. (Scarves and shawls that are 100% pashmina are
typically coarse and too fragile to wear, although designers like Carolina
Herrera and Donatella Versace have integrated the fabric into their past
collections.) A large portion of the material then passes through numerous
middlemen, raising the price exorbitantly and opening the door for wide
variations in quality. "There's no regulation on pashmina; there's
no stamp of approval," comments Merkatz, though she and other buyers
feel confident in the reliability of their product. Most websites guarantee
the quality of the pashmina and do accept returns.
Today many department stores carry the fabric,
and many smaller Tibetan boutiques like Sega Carpet New York sell pashmina
shawls and scarves as a bread-and-butter item. Although many Tibetans
commonly wear prayer shawls, the colorful wraps are specifically geared
toward westerners and should not be confused with traditional clothing.
Nevertheless, Save Tibet crusaders can't be unhappy to know that these
merchants are profiting from the fad, even if most buyers are less interested
in history than in how they look. —Julia Lyon
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