The Ethical Cashmere Blog

“OH MY GOD!!” was my instinctive reaction when I touched the cashmere shawl. I had not expected it to be that soft.

Hanging out at Mr. Ghulam’s little store in Pokhara, at first I enjoyed merely looking at the colourful textiles neatly stacking the shelves.

You see, I thought I knew cashmere. There was a phase when it was fashionable in Malaysia; there was ‘pashmina’ (another name for cashmere) everywhere. Nice wide shawls, usually with some kind of paisley pattern. They were cheap, sometimes going for lower than $10.

“It’s very nice…” Nuraini said, looking at the photo I had sent.

“Yea… it’s a beautiful place…!” I murmured quietly. It was a view of the Kashmiri Himalayas, mostly bare of snow, but with the tops still lathered with white. “Where the bridge is, this is Dursuma. This is just after Wayul-"

“Wayul? Is that like, a region? or village?”

During the 90s, the situation in Kashmir became worse, so my dad decided to move out because there were no tourists coming. So he didn't have any work as a guide. And a second thing, as a carpet weaver, he also didn't have a lot of work, because the situation was getting really bad in Kashmir at the time.

Welcome to Ethical Cashmere, online store for the original Himalayan cashmere craft! Do stay a little while, browse around the shop, and on our blog read the stories of cashmere and Kashmir, of Nepal, of Sumi's family and their weavers - the people behind Ethical Cashmere.