Story of Cashmere

When India became the colony of Britain gradually in 1757, cashmere goats were found in Kashmir area which in fact originated in Tibet in China. Since then, the name of cashmere goat was introduced into western countries. A love story between Napoleon made the Josephine made the cashmere shawl the love of European merchant prince and the nobles. Legend has it that Napolean brought a present, a cashmere shawl to his beloved wife Josephine , which was enjoyed deeply by her and she collected hundreds of shawls of various types afterwards. For a time cashmere became a fashion in nobles and celebrities. Pashmina means wool in Farsi (from Oxford English Dictionary) but cashmere in Indian. Therefore, pashmina is called cashmere in Europe and America, which comes from the fleece in neck and abdomen of Capra-Hircus goat whose fine hair is called cashmere. This species of goat mainly live in Himalayan mountains with altitude higher than 15,000 inches. The higher and colder the places where they live, the better the quality of their hair. We can see lots of pashmina products in the market with various types and materials, some of which originates from China, some Inner Mongolia and others third countries. Because of the popularity of pashmina, some people use it as an adjective. Because its characters of being soft, light, and comfortable, pashmina is also used to describe soft, light, and comfortable shawls. People always do not know the difference between pashmina and Cashmere. The president of wool and camel manufacture college of Boston, Karl Spihaus once said, “Pashmina is just cashmere…There’s no difference. Pashmina is simply the Indian word for cashmere.” From it we can see pashmina and Cashmere is the same kind of fibre from the same species of animal, which is different because of different name in their places of origin. He also said, a good quality cashmere shawl is worth every dime you pay for it, and it will last you a lifetime.” There is another version that people find distinction between them because pashmina is the most famous product in Nepal which is a thin and light shawl but with good warmth retention property. Pashmina is usually produced by goats living in mountains of high altitude, mainly Himalayan, therefore it is thin and soft and its products are mainly thin and smooth fabrics of which the most famous is Nepal Ring pashmina. While, the main production area of cashmere is Inner Mongolia which produces 40 percent of world cashmere. The cashmere of western Inner Mongolia is of best quality in the world which is thin and long. Because the cashmere goat quantity in Himalayan is so rare that cashmere yield is low too, the western Inner Mongolia is the real source of pashmina material. Usually, pashmina can be classified into 100% cashmere and blends of cashmere and silk. 100% pashmina has the best thermal insulation quality and is lighter than blends in weight which is suitable for winter use. The most common Nepal pashmina is blends of 70% pashmina and 30%silk. Blended pashmina is bright and has good tenacity because of silk.