The fine, warm wool of a high-altitude Himalayan goat, hand-spun and woven in Kashmir into shawls prized for centuries for their softness and warmth.
कश्मीर, लद्दाख · Kashmir, Ladakh
True pashmina is spun from the undercoat of the changthangi goat, raised at high altitude in Ladakh, and traditionally hand-spun and hand-woven entirely without machine assistance, a process that can take weeks for a single shawl before any embroidery is added.
Kashmir's finest pashmina pieces are further embellished with sozni needle embroidery or kani weaving, a technique using small wooden spools instead of a shuttle, and the region's shawls carry Geographical Indication protection today against machine-made imitations sold under the same name.