Lotus Pashmina

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Our shawls are made from the wool of the Tibetan Capra Hircus mountain goat. These goats typically are found between 12 and 14,000 feet in the Himalayas and on the central plains in Mongolia. It has been used by weavers in Kashmir (hence the term cashmere). Due to war in that area, production has shifted to other parts of India. In Tibet and Nepal where our Pashmina comes from the fiber is several microns thinner, hence lighter. Pashmina is gathered by combing the neck or underbelly of the goat, a process similar to shearing sheep (or gathering the wool from the rocks where the animal live). No harm comes to the animal in this process.

The raw materials are hand-carded, hand-spun, then dyed using eco-friendly Swiss Sandoz dyes by Tibetan artisans in Nepal. These dyes are a higher quality than the dyes coming from much of India, they are faster and last longer. The pashmina goat hairs, which are thinner and lighter than the ‘cashmere’ from the other parts of the goat, are combined with silk to give the material durability and luster. They are then hand woven into your shawl, stole or scarf. Some lower priced shawls are machine made which you can identify by their unnaturally straight edges( or use cashmere, which you can tell by the harsher feel of the fabric). Large companies sell these machine made shawls, and may even be what you see sold in very fancy stores for twice our price. Hand weaving our products with a pashmina and silk blend allows us to bring you a product that is densely woven yet light.

We keep our prices as low as possible by buying directly from the weavers and selling directly to you since year 2000 on the Web. We have known and purchased from our source for many years and are confident the product contains what is on the label. Unfortunately, as pashmina’s popularity has increased, some less scrupulous companies are selling lower priced ‘pashmina’ shawls which are made from the coarser cashmere fibers, angora or even acrylic!

Our shawls come from experienced weavers, but there is always some slight variability with hand weaving. Also, production of these products helps keep the tradition of hand weaving alive, and provides valuable income for the artisans and their families. Since we buy direct we are confident of the quality. There is absolutely no child labor used in our products.

The illegal fiber shatoosh comes from a different animal, the Tibetan Chiru antelope which lives at and above 15,000 feet. Any product from the Chiru antelope is illegal in many countries. We do not deal with such products.

Traditionally pashmina shawls have been given as wedding gifts, and handed down as heirlooms. They are truly elegant, and now an affordable luxury.

As you wear them, they become even softer.

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