Lately, the word Pashmina has been everywhere. I have been noticing more and more ads for pashmina shawls and was curious to find out what they really are. When I was in Turkey, several colleagues were very proud to have purchased Pashmina scarves for $5.00. This did not make sense to me as back home they cost in the $40.00 to $60.00 range. I discretely checked the fabric content, and sure enough they were 100% viscose! I was curious to find out what is Pashmina. Is it a fabric, or a wool, or a trade mark for shawls? Even some more expensive ones were presented as Pashmina yet there were synthetic fibres in their composition.
Well, here is the deal:
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.
In contrast, pashmina is a textile blend of silk and cashmere. 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 , so pashmina would be the crème de la crème of cashmere.
It does not explain how come the name Pashmina is used for 100% wool shawls as well as the real cashmere and silk blend ones….Price wise anything under $40.00 is not wool, and anything under $60.00 does not have silk or cashmere in it…so…is it legal to say I am wearing a Pashmina even if there is no silk in it?…Isn’t there a trademark law about this? Mind you, they are still great shawls in a wide variety of colours and most of them are very soft…