Walk into a shop in winter and you’ll find the word “pashmina” on tags at every price you can imagine. Some of those shawls cost less than a lunch. Others cost more than a month’s rent. Same word, completely different products. So what is going on?
Here is the short answer. Pashmina and cashmere come from the same family of goats, but they are not the same thing once they reach the shelf. Let’s untangle it.
Where each one comes from
Cashmere is the soft undercoat of cashmere goats, which are raised in several parts of the world, including China, Mongolia and Iran. Pashmina, in the strict sense, comes from the undercoat of the Changthangi goat. These animals live on the Changthang plateau of Ladakh, at altitudes above 4,000 metres, where winters are brutally cold. The cold is the reason the fibre grows so fine: the goat needs a warm, light layer, and nature supplies it.
So here is an easy way to remember it. Every pashmina is a kind of cashmere, but not every cashmere is pashmina.
The micron test
Fineness is measured in microns, which are thousandths of a millimetre. Genuine pashmina is usually quoted at roughly 12 to 16 microns, and the GI standard for Kashmir Pashmina sets a ceiling of 16 microns. Ordinary cashmere often runs a little coarser, commonly somewhere around 15 to 19 microns, and sheep’s wool is coarser again.
A fair warning, though. These ranges overlap at the fine end, and grades vary from batch to batch. A micron figure on its own proves nothing. It only becomes meaningful when it comes from a lab report.
Hand-spun and hand-woven
The second difference is how the cloth is made. In the Kashmir Valley, mostly in and around Srinagar, pashmina yarn is spun by hand and the fabric is woven on a hand loom. Much of the cashmere sold in global stores is machine-spun and machine-woven.
Neither method is “wrong”. But a hand-woven shawl asks far more time from the weaver, and that shows up in the drape, in the tiny natural variations of the weave and, honestly, in the price.
Why the price gap is so wide
The fibre is combed from the goats, cleaned, spun into yarn so fine it breaks easily, and only then woven. Embroidered pieces take much longer still. When a “pashmina” costs next to nothing, something in that chain has usually been skipped, and more often than not it is the goat.
Three signs of a genuine Kashmiri pashmina
1. A GI label. “Kashmir Pashmina” has been a registered Geographical Indication of India since 2008. Pieces are tested at the Craft Development Institute in Srinagar, and certified shawls carry a tamper-proof, QR-based label that cannot be peeled off and reused on another product. Scan it rather than just admiring it.
2. A lab report. A proper report states the fibre composition and the fibre diameter. If a seller says “100% pashmina” but cannot show a document, treat that claim as a claim and nothing more.
3. An honest seller. Real makers talk openly about where the fibre comes from, who wove the piece and how long it took. Vague answers are a warning sign. We wrote a separate piece on why Kashmiri handicrafts differ from mass-produced imitations if you would like the bigger picture.
What about the tests you see online?
You will come across advice to burn a thread, rub the shawl to make static, or pull it through a ring. We would be careful here. The burn test damages the shawl, and blended fabrics can fool even a careful eye. The ring trick only tells you that a cloth is thin and light, which a good synthetic can be too.
What you can do safely is use your senses. Genuine pashmina usually feels soft without being slippery, warms up against your skin within a minute or two, and is light enough that a full-size shawl folds down to almost nothing. A shawl that feels slick, stiff or cold on the skin deserves a second look. Documents beat party tricks every time.
So which one should you buy?
It depends on what you want. Cashmere is a lovely choice for sweaters and everyday knitwear. Pashmina is the better pick if you want an heirloom shawl with a real origin story, something that can be handed down. Neither is automatically better, but they are not interchangeable, and the label should tell you which one you are getting.
At The Artisans, we work with weavers in the Kashmir Valley to bring authentic Pashmina shawls to people around the world. Whatever you decide to buy, ask the seller, us included, for the fibre details and certification before you pay. A good maker will be glad you asked.
Ready to browse? Start with our Pashmina collection.
