Understanding Pure Pashmina: What Actually Makes It Different

The word "Pashmina" gets used loosely across the fashion industry, often for shawls that contain little or no actual Pashmina wool. Genuine Pashmina comes from the undercoat of the Changthangi goat, raised at high altitudes in the Ladakh region, where the extreme cold forces the animal to grow an exceptionally fine, soft undercoat as insulation.

This undercoat is collected, not shorn, by hand-combing the goat during its natural moulting season, a slow, low-yield process. A single goat produces only around 80–170 grams of usable fibre a year, which is part of why authentic Pashmina has always commanded a premium.

Fibre diameter is the real test

Pashmina fibre typically measures between 12 and 16 microns in diameter, finer than most cashmere, and a fraction of the width of a human hair. This is what gives real Pashmina its characteristic softness and warmth-to-weight ratio. Blended or synthetic "pashmina" sold at a fraction of the price is usually viscose, acrylic, or a wool blend with a coarser, heavier feel.

Hand-spun and hand-woven

Traditionally, Pashmina yarn is hand-spun on a wooden spinning wheel called a yinder, then woven on a handloom. This process cannot be meaningfully mechanised without damaging the fibre, which is one reason genuine Pashmina production has remained a cottage industry centred in and around Kashmir for centuries.

What to look for

• A soft, warm handle without any shine or stiffness
• Natural, slightly irregular weave, a sign of hand work, not a flaw
• No strong chemical smell, which can indicate heavy synthetic processing

At Orvami, every Pashmina piece is made from pure, hand-spun fibre and finished by artisans working in Kashmir, not sourced as a finished product from a third party.