Is pashmina the same as cashmere? This is a question I’m often asked by my customers.
Simply put, Pashmina is a type of Cashmere. However there is a difference between the two, and not all Cashmere is Pashmina.
Cashmere refers to the soft wool that comes from a Cashmere goat, however pashmina refers specifically to the finest and softest fibers sourced from the undercoat of the Himalayan mountain goat. The ultra fine fibres having a range of 12-15 microns (thickness).
Pashmina is the name given to the luxurious wool woven from pashm. Pashm is the name of the ultra fine fleece undercoat of the Chyangra goat…. the “Himalayan Mountain Goat”.
These goats can only be found in the high-altitude mountains, valleys and plateaus of the Himalayas that span across Tibet, Nepal, the Ladakh region of India and in to Qinghai province of China.
The altitudes in this region can reach 14,000 feet above sea level and this unique environment provides a microclimate that is central to the development of the undercoats of these mountain goats. The goats have thus adapted their fleece to withstand the extreme weather conditions.
The Chyangra goats must withstand temperatures as low as to -50°C with windchill during the winter, making pashm one of the most insulating fleeces known.
When the warmer days arrive in the spring to this isolated region, the goats will begin to shed their undercoats. Nomadic herdsmen known as Changpa comb the fine undercoat of the goats to produce the Pashm.
Over time the name pashmina has turned into a generic name for any kind of shawl, but a true pashmina can only come from one classified region. It has to be made from pure Pashm, that has been both hand spun and hand woven.
The demand for pashminas initially boosted this unique Kashmiri industry, but it eventually it led to a downfall. Cheap western-made replicas began cropping up throughout the world, leading to a devaluation of the authentic pashminas.
This is still a reason why the definition of pashmina has become synonymous with any scarf or shawl being referred to as a pashmina.
Fortunately, the fake pashmina trend has somewhat died out, and Kashmiri and Nepali artisans have been able to re-establish their authentic beautiful skills and artistry in the creation of genuine pashmina shawls.
Unfortunately, the widely used generic term “pashmina” is still widely used to this day, for any scarf or shawl, and still causes much confusion.