Saturday, October 10, 2009

Where to buy a fake pash in the Big Apple


theprintedthought.blogspot.com

According to Julie Blumenfeld, one of the nice things about life in the City is the omnipresent vendor. Among the great bargains is "the ideal outfit-coordinating essential: the Pashmina scarf." Best place to get your $5 pash? "Outside the New York Public Library on the corner of 40th Street and 5th Avenue. There is usually a vendor stationed there in the Fall who offers the largest color and pattern selection of Pashminas I've ever encountered."

Thanks for letting us share, Julie!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Nepal pashmina exports soar

KOL news; posted on Nepal 1st

KATHMANDU, Aug 6 - The export of pashmina products soared by 243.8 percent during the first 11 months of the last fiscal year 2008/09.


According to Nepal Rastra Bank, Nepal exported pashmina products worth Rs. 1.23 billion, whereas exports during the same period in 2007/08 amounted to only Rs. 375.9 million.

Shankar Prasad Pandey, president of the Nepal Pashmina Industries Association (NPIA), said that the rise in the export of pashmina amid the world recession was satisfactory. "We have been facing the effects of the recession, but it has not hit Nepali pashmina as hard as expected," said Pandey.

He added that export performance had been enhanced by the export of high quality pashmina products and appreciation of the U.S. dollar against
the Nepali rupee. Pashmina sweaters, blankets, tunics, party wears and boutique products are some of the major high quality products.

Karken Tangboten Gurung, managing director of Everest Pashmina Knitting and Weaving Industry, said that the overall situation of pashmina exports till date was satisfactory. Everest Pashmina is one of the five largest exporters in Nepal.
"Exports have improved in recent months, but the major challenge is how to maintain the pace," said Gurung. "There should be provision of income tax waiver, loans at subsidized interest rates and labour flexibility to help the pashmina industry and increase exports."

According to the Federation of Handicraft Associations of Nepal, pashmina is one of the major handicraft products that is exported to more than 40 countries worldwide. The U.S.A., Germany, the U.K, Japan, France, Canada, Italy, China, Switzerland and the Netherlands were the top 10 buyers of Nepali pashmina during the last fiscal year.

Nepali pashmina has already received the trade mark logo in Australia, Norway and Japan. The NPIA is trying to get the brand logo registered in the E.U. and 11 other countries in a bid to guarantee quality and stop fake products from being passed off as Nepali pashmina.


KOL News

Friday, October 2, 2009

That Bloody Holiday, again

September 19 to 28: It's that time of year again. Dasain. (The word is often spelled Dashain, but that is misleading, as the "sh" is really just an aspirated "s" - barely distinguishable from an ordinary "s," to our ears - and not the digraph /sh/ as pronounced in shawl.) Ten days of joyful merrymaking in Nepal, a month-long holiday for schoolkids. Our embroiders will be off-duty for at least two weeks. Thousands and thousands of buffalo, goats, and chickens slaughtered in public sacrifices. Why? Theoretically, the festival commemorates the victory of the goddess Durga over the demon enemies, particularly the awful black buffalo demon. In fact, it's basically a fall harvest festival, like our Thanksgiving -- only we generally slaughter our millions of turkeys out of sight on industrial poultry farms instead of in the middle of towns and cities for all to enjoy. (Except in Wasilla, Alaska.)



Although, shamefully, many foreigners are attracted by the spectacle of tens of thousands of buffalo, goats, and chickens being beheaded and spattered about, we bleeding hearts at Bridges-PRTD have always made an effort to stay out of Kathmandu, away from the Hindu population enters, during this festival. In Rolwaling Valley, where we do most of our work, there is a Sherpa holiday intended to help the milling souls of the slaughtered animals find their way quickly to the next life -- hopefully in a gentler, kinder, vegan world.




For a more knowledgeable view of this holiday, read our friend Sanjay Nepal's latest blog entries.



Spoiler: No slaughter in this clip. Not much English, either.


Saturday, September 5, 2009

Sunrise Pashmina Moves Mountains!

Well, not exactly. The guys who handle Internet distribution of Tsering Choekyap's pashmina products via Sunrise Pashmina are also the instigators behind Mountain Legacy, a Nepali non-governmental organization (similar to an American non-profit, or 501-c-3); one of their new projects is Moving Mountains: Journal of Sport for Development and Peace. Take a look at the [inchoate] Web site, and see if you might be interested in joining the Steering Committee!

India claims the brand -- and that's just fine with their fakers

One thing that is native to India is fakery. In fact, the word derives from fakir, a Sufi holy man (and by extension holy men of other religions); these guys are famous for all sorts of tricks such as fire-walking and snake-charming. India doesn't have a monopoly on fakery, but the fact that India has assigned Kashmir ownership of the "brand name" pashmina should not fool anyone. They may come up with some new scams, but they didn't invent the word, the fabric, or the accessory.
==================================

One year of GI status, fake Pashmina continues to be sold as brand Kashmir

From the Daily Rising Kashmir
Rashid Paul
Srinagar August 17: Fake Pashmina continues to be sold as brand Kashmir due to lack of labeling mechanism despite one year lag since Geographical Indicator (GI) registration was awarded to Kashmir Pashmina.
In August 2008, the Chennai based G 1 registry awarded community ownership to Kashmiri Pashmina, Sozni and Kani shawls. The Craft Development Institute (CDI) Srinagar which mooted Rs 10 crore laboratory facility in Srinagar to put a stop on selling of fake shawls is yet to be approved by the government. “Fake products in and outside valley continue to be sold as brand Kashmir,” said M S Farooqi, director CDI.


Mohammed Ashraf, a local shawl trader also complains that some unprincipled traders were mixing synthetic fiber with Pashmina. The same shawl is then sold as Kashmir brand which fetch them lakhs of rupees. The stuff looses its sheen after one wash resulting in bad name to the product and its place of origin.

Use of synthetic material has rendered hundreds of men and women jobless and the government is appreciating the same stock of traders, Ashraf said.

Ali Mohammed, president of Tahafuz, an organization of artisans seeking protection and promotion of Kashmir handicrafts said that Kashmiri businessmen dealing in Pashmina trade smashed it. It is a pity that the government is sleeping over the issue.

Mohammed Iqbal, a senior executive of the organization said that a two kilogram pack of fine wool used in Pashmina may cost up to Rs 10000. The deceitful traders get the same pack in adultered form at Rs 2500. The stuff is then fabricated on machines and sold in the market as Kashmir Pashmina, he said

To combat the menace the CDI director suggests a private initiative. If the government has failed to deliver, let the businessmen initiate stamping and fake detection facility, immense direct and indirect benefits will flow, he said.

The CDI had proposed a lab involving identifying real Kashmir Pashmina and tagging it with radio frequency identification (RFID) chip. The wafer thin chip could be coded with information about the manufacturing source and product specifications.
A buyer can read the tag and send the information to a centralized station meant for its validation.

Official reports put the woolen shawls exports at Rs 420 crores for the year 2007-2008.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Nepal - Handicraft exports up 17 percent

08 Jun, 2009 - Nepal
Exports of handicraft goods went up by 17 percent over the first nine months of the current fiscal year. However, exporters noted that the growth has come largely due to the weakening of the Nepali currency.

Between mid-July 2008 and mid-April 2009, Nepal exported handicraft goods worth Rs 2.22 billion to around 80 different countries, compared with Rs 1.89 billion in the corresponding period last year, according to the Federation of Handicraft Associations of Nepal (FHAN).

In terms of the US currency, however, exports in the nine months of this fiscal year had fallen by 0.3 percent, to US$29.51 million.

Dilip Khanal, executive secretary of FHAN, attributed this discrepancy in the overall picture to the gains made by the US dollar vis-�-vis the Nepali currency. A dollar was valued at between Rs 68.85 and Rs 80.15 in the first nine months of 2008/09, whereas it had averaged between Rs 64.45 and Rs 65.44 in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.

But that same factor, the increase in the dollar�s value against the Nepali rupee, does not provide a blanket explanation for the increments made by certain export items. Pashmina products, for instance, saw a growth in exports because pashmina companies diversified their products range. Exports of pashmina products had gone up by 31 percent, to Rs 573.65 million, in the nine-month period this year.

"This is because Nepali traders are now exporting not just pashmina shawls, but a wide range of pashmina products, including sweaters and ponchos," Khanal said.

This year, Nepali pashmina products--which made up 26 percent of the total handicrafts exported--were exported to around 40 countries around the world. Of this, Rs 200.95 million-worth of pashmina products, around 35 percent of the total pashmina exported, had reached the United States alone, making the country the largest importer of this prime Nepali product.

Exports of woolen products, which make up 15 percent of the total handicraft exports, also went up by 27 percent to Rs 336.95 million in the nine-month period. Exports of other textile items, such as felt, cotton, hemp and dhaka products, also went up both in terms of Nepali as well as the US currency.

Among non-textile items, exports of silver jewelry, which make up 12 percent of the total handicraft exports, went up by a marginal eight percent to Rs 265.05 million. But in terms of the amount of US currency generated, that figure fell nine percent.

Similarly, handmade paper products, which constitute up to eight percent of the total handicrafts exported, saw its exports go up by 17 percent in terms of the Nepali currency but fall 2 percent in terms of the US dollar.

Top 5 importers of Nepali handicraft products:

The USA - Rs 633.12million
Germany - Rs 238.84 million
Japan - Rs 188.28 million
The UK - Rs 166.73 million
France - Rs 148.33 million

*Figures based on the first 9 months of current FY

Source: myrepublica.com

Preppy pashmina

From The Sunday Times (Times Online)

June 7, 2009
Preppy power, by Shane Watson

From twinsets and pearls to cashmere hoodies — new fashion tribes are taking their lead from the Sloanes




Power preppy: Michelle Obama



Preppy is a word that makes the average fashionista flinch. It’s those associations: bankers in seersucker jackets; public-school boys running riot in Rock in stick-up-collared polo shirts; girls who would kill to be at the same polo match as Prince Harry, in their uniform of pale-pink hoodies and denim miniskirts, accessorised with blonde hair and ankle Uggs. It’s Sloane rangers. It’s sporty, county, gap-year and it’s been about as far as you can get from the cutting edge of style. Yet rapidly growing numbers of people are embracing the preppy look — whether it’s stripy boat-neck T-shirts, argyle sweaters, brogues or cotton pea coats. Look closely and you’ll see preppy is having a makeover right under our noses.

It’s still the default look of every Sophie and Hugo on the planet (Jack Wills, provider of the logo-heavy collegiate wear that is their unofficial uniform, saw a sales increase of 100% last year). But the difference is that, now, all kinds of other style tribes are cherry-picking from the preppy canon — that mixture of American sporty casual wear from shops such as Abercrombie & Fitch and British old-school classics — and wearing it in new ways. When types you would never have dreamt of labelling preppy (Alexa Chung, say) start wearing clothes you definitely think of as preppy (cardigans, blazers, penny loafers, ankle socks), you are talking about a wholesale rebranding.

As to why preppy suddenly has such a broad appeal, that’s easy. It’s the antibling look — clean and classic to the core. So, naturally, it’s heading mainstream at the same time as we are tiring of

Wags and multi bags and the excesses of the red carpet. It’s easy to pull off preppy without having to invest much. Tick. It’s uncomplicated and eminently wearable, requiring no inside fashion knowledge or clever styling. Another tick. And preppy doesn’t date. Blazers and pea coats and stripy shirts exist in their own fashion limbo for all time. Double tick.

Preppy has something else going for it. There is an extended line of wholesome preppy-wearers, from Katharine Hepburn all the way to the present day, that gives it a kind of authenticity that speaks to a generation bored with gimmickry and clothes that last only a month or a wash. Preppy is the antithesis of trashy. Like a cashmere jumper borrowed from Dad, it has a whiff of permanence. In the end, this is about a shift away from the fickle diktats of fashion to the appeal of stuff that feels like it belongs in real life, not merely on a catwalk. You can see why it’s catching on.

This is the Jack Wills posse. Younger ones wear a hoodie and denim miniskirt. Older, grungier sisters wear a cotton checked shirt as a dress, saggy cardigan, black opaque tights and rolled-down Ugg boots. Note the roughed-up hair (though beautifully conditioned), the bitten, painted nails and the faded tattoo (she got it travelling).

POWER PREPPY

The grown-up, glamour end of preppy. It’s preppy with an injection of designer, and you won’t see any logos anywhere. Classic looks include a dark jacket with a white shirt and bootcut denim for smart-casual, and, for casual, sawn-off long white denim shorts, a vest and a pashmina.

Poster girls Michelle Obama, Jennifer Aniston, or, if you like your preppy a bit LA, Elle Macpherson.

Defining elements The juicy-coloured statement cardigan, white shirt, capri pants, white jeans.

Favourite labels J Crew, Gap, Boden for downtime (must be worn with a lot of care), Derek Lam for designer.

Most likely to be seen wearing them At home, on holiday, at the weekend, on the school run.

Best look Crisp shirt with ankle-grazer jeans and ballet pumps; bright-coloured cardigan with full skirt.

A look too far Madras checked jackets for men, seersucker trousers and canvas belts featuring ducks, bermuda shorts.

PUBLIC-SCHOOL PREPPY

School Preppy: Chelsy Davy
Poster people Prince Harry, Chelsy Davy.

Defining elements Uggs (still, even in summer) or white canvas plimsolls, the gratuitous scarf (this year in cotton plaid).

Favourite labels Jack Wills, Gap, Crew Clothing.

Most likely to be seen wearing them In gangs on the King’s Road, Rock, Polzeath, Aldeburgh, the northeast coast of Corfu, traipsing round John Lewis with their mothers.

Best look Denim shorts and pretty chemisey top with ribbed cotton tights and white plimsolls.

A look too far Upturned collars or rugby shirts on girls or boys, low-riding jeans with stripy boxers on show, cricket sweaters (unless you are playing cricket).

FASHION PREPPY


This is doing the look with irony, which means taking the most traditional of preppy signatures — penny loafers, ankle socks, Aertex shirts with logos, stripy men’s shirts, wax jackets, hair bands, Hunters, heirloom brooches — and wearing them as a preppy never would. Alexa Chung puts loafers with minidresses, and wellies with denim shorts; ChloĆ« Sevigny likes a blazer over hot pants, or a neat pair of khaki shorts and a boob tube.




Fashion preppy: Alexa Chung


Poster girls Alexa Chung, Chloƫ Sevigny

Defining elements Vintage sundresses, knee and ankle socks, brogues, loafers, two-tone pumps.

Favourite labels Anything vintage, Luella, Marc Jacobs, American Apparel for sweatshirts.

Most likely to be seen wearing them When you’d least expect. At a black-tie party, rock festival, their best friend’s wedding.

Best look Loafers with knee socks and a super-mini designer dress.

A look too far Hunters in town (note, fashion preppy knows to keep hers for Glastonbury), head-to-toe Belstaff.

PIT-BULL PREPPY

This is a pimped-up version of Public School Preppy, with, possibly, a pit bull on a designer lead. Pit-bull preppy has picked up where the designer tracksuit left off. It’s big on sporty signature looks (hoodies, baseball caps), but not so big on the wholesome aesthetic, or the sports.

Pit-bull preppy: Katie Price

Poster people Danny Cipriani for the boys (it’s all those sweatshirts teamed with diamond earrings), and the chicks from The Hills or Katie Price in equestrian mode for the girls. Think soft-top sports car meets sportswear or Page Three meets pony club.

Defining elements White track pants, white gilets, Uggs, nail extensions and ponytail.

Favourite labels Jack Wills, Topshop, Asos, H&M.

Most likely to be seen wearing them On the high street.

Best look Rolled-down track pants and padded gilet with nothing underneath.

A look too far Thong riding up above the waistband of trackie bottoms.

EURO PREPPY

Euro preppies are the only people wearing the look precisely as the original Sloane rangers used to: sans irony. Only, of course, they are 10 times more polished, and whereas the original Sloane might have been covered in jack russell hairs and barely-there make-up, your Euro preppy is immaculate, wears only cashmere and is allergic to animals.

Euro Preppy: Kate Middleton


Poster girls Carla Bruni, with her cable-knit cashmere and loafers; Kate Middleton, with her Spanish riding boots and tweedy shooting kit. (To be fair, Kate is more neo-Sloane ranger, but, for obvious reasons, the Euro preppy holds her in high esteem.)

Defining elements Cable-knit cashmere in pastel colours, velvet scrunchies, riding boots worn over jeans.

Favourite labels Barbour, Hackett, Thomas Pink.

Most likely to be seen wearing them All the time, head to toe, all over Europe and South Kensington.

Best look Stripy shirt under a fitted tweed jacket, and lots of rings.

A look too far Designer riding clothes as mufti.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Bad news from Kashmir

Saturday, May 30, 2009
From: http://showkeenmir.blogspot.com/2009/05/future-of-pashmina-trade-in-shambles.html

Future of Pashmina trade in shambles
Showkeen Mir
15-5-2009, Srinagar

The Pashmina shawl which was once the pride of Jammu and Kashmir and anyone visiting the valley across the world was buying the same with the enthusiasm and happiness. But the future of the persons associated with this profession is in dark because of availability of cheap duplicate Pashmina shawls in the local markets.

Pashmina shawls have been woven on handlooms from wool handspun from the disheveled coat of a goat, which lives in the heights of the Himalayas in the Ladakh region of Jammu And Kashmir State.

Hundreds of Pashmina weavers, however, have felt obligated to take to other professions. For, low-priced and machine-made shawls available around are affecting the original pieces' demand and particularly the duplicate items available here from Amritsar.

People in thousands are associated with this trade. Ladies spin the wool, the men weave the shawls and then there are other's who do embroidery on these shawls and the local hawkers sell these shawls. But these days we are facing problems due to the fakes from Amritsar. Due to this our business suffers very lot, said Abdul Rashid, a wholesaler dealing in Pashmina shawls in Srinagar.
Nearly 60,000 Pashmina shawls are still woven in Kashmir a year “Shahtoosh” wool derived from the hair of goats shawls made from this wool are considered the world's finest.

From last two years we had low business in the valley because neither govt nor any bank has come forward to make this trade very fruitfull for those who are associated with this since the years,said Noor Mohamad a shawl weaver from Budgam.

Though witnessing the fake penetration into Pashmina shawl trade, the government has decided to make GI mark compulsory for the Pashmina shawls. But the volume of work to be done is so much that the government has not been able to initiate this branding so far.This means from wherever the business is being generated, even from the imitations, it has to come back to Kashmir, to the craftsmen and to the traders.
Second thing is that traditionally the outside people who were doing business now they will have to pay for this. They can't do business just like this. Like by giving any fake name to their product said the officials associated with this trade.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Pashmina Gets First Int'l Trademark In Norway

Published in Republica
KATHMANDU, May 19

In the first major case of a Nepali product´s garnering international patent rights, Nepali pashmina manufacturers have managed to register pashmina as a trademark in Norway. Pashmina is a prime Nepali commodity that has carved out a niche market among posh consumers around the world.

The registration has established pashmina, a Nepali name for the finest fur extract of mountain goats, as a typical Nepali product and defined pashmina items as commodities that have well-defined material content and traits.

"It will straightaway help us double pashmina exports in 2010," Shankar Pandey, president of the Nepal Pashmina Manufacturers Association (NPMA) told myrepublica.com. Although not a big market, Norway is one of the key importers of the product in Europe.

The association had received the confirmation of the trademark´s registration from the Norwegian authorities a couple of weeks ago. The association is also hopeful of receiving a similar positive response from the Australian authorities in a month.

Nepali manufacturers had lodged their applications for an international trademark, in December 2008, citing its clear definition, in a dozen countries, including Norway, Australia, the United States, the EU, Canada, Japan, China and Switzerland, among others.

That step was taken in an attempt to gain an independent identity for and regain the lost glory of the country´s once third-largest export. The move was taken with an aim to identify pashmina as a commodity different from Cashmere, a brand name used by similar Indian and Chinese products.

“The registration has granted us an independent identity and specification for pashmina items, which was much needed to continue exports to Japan and Italy,” said Pandey. Those countries had announced the restricting of pashmina imports if Nepal failed to define the commodity by the end of 2009.

Madhu Babu Adhikari, officer of NPMA, said the registration would help manufacturers to retain those markets and also reclaim the market that Nepali pashmina had lost in the United States and Europe.

Nepali pashmina items gained sudden acclaim in the international market and carved out niche markets in late 1990s after fashion magazines associated the product with high-profile personalities, including the UK´s royalties. That exposure soon boosted pashmina´s exports to over Rs 7 billion in 2000 and expanded its market to as many as 75 countries.

However, the failure in maintaining its quality, coupled with the aggressive marketing of cashmere products as pashmina by India and China, soon started to displace Nepali exports, resulting in pashmina´s gradually declining exports, which stood at Rs 540 million in 2007/08.

Furthermore, because Indian and Chinese manufacturers were heavily blending viscose yarn, acrylic wool, soybean fiber and poly-yarn with their pashmina products and selling them as genuine pashmina products, that practice had also dented Nepali pashmina´s image.

Going by the definition registered now, a pashmina product must have at least 51 percent pashmina content for it to be tagged as a pashmina item. “This will safeguard pashmina exports from the competition provided by inferior quality pashmina," Adhikari stated.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Pash Bash -- off-white and off-color




Janice Dickinson lashes out at a paparazzi with her off-white pash, when he called her a “distraction” as she was leaving Nobu restaurant in West Hollywood. Note: Rated R for off-color language and violence.

[Editor's note: experienced pash-bashers prefer beaded fringes. See www.sunrise-pashmina.com/beading.html]

Thursday, May 14, 2009

"The new fashion staple in town"



STAR STAPLE: Cameron, Saffron, Donna and Kate


http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/53824
Daily Express
Thursday July 24,2008
By Claire Brayford


LAST YEAR, only a Sloane Ranger or a Kashmiri tribesman would have been seen dead in a pashmina.

But the silky soft wraps have become the surprise fashion hit of the summer, after being championed by some of the world's most beautiful women.

Leading the revival is France’s first lady, former supermodel Carla Bruni, who was photographed earlier this week looking stately in a mauve Christian Dior wrap.

Die-hard pashmina fan, and possible future Queen, Kate Middleton, was also snapped in one of the shawls last month. Hers was an angelic shade of buttermilk and she tossed it over her shoulders as she left London hotspot Whisky Mist.

Elsewhere, Hollywood stars like Cameron Diaz, Lauren Hutton, Liv Tyler and Julia Roberts, have also been cocooning themselves in the luxurious cover-up.




REGAL: Carla Bruni


Now the shawls, which were once shunned for their fusty image, are being embraced by even the most fickle of the fashion pack, with many leading designers featuring shawls in their spring/summer and autumn collections.

Mary Flack, press and advertising manager at London department store Fenwick says she has seen sales skyrocket.

“Sales are so high this summer we have had to buy more colours than ever," she admits," Cocowai is our hottest brand and we now stock it in 32 different shades.

"Women have watched the stars re-embrace them but it also remains the most simple and effective way to take the night time chill off your shoulders.”

The perfect pashmina should be feather-light, soft and warm, making it an irresistible staple for the unpredictable British weather.

Victoria Stapleton owner of Brora cashmere agrees.

"We've had a bonanza season on all our cashmere shawls," she said, "Especially with our beautiful stripe style which sold out almost immediately.”


The name pashmina comes from the Persian word pashm, or wool, and refers to the fine undercoat of a special breed of feral Changthang goat found high in the Himalayas. One goat produces less than 8oz of the exclusive fibre a year.

The cover-up can be traced back hundreds of years. Wall paintings from the 11th century, found in the Kashmiri region, clearly show people wearing beautifully embroidered shawls.

Even Emperor Napoleon gave one to his Empress, Josephine, who made them much sought-after in Europe and is said to have amassed more than 1,000. By the mid-19th century, French textile designers were frantically opening shops in the heart of Kashmir to be at the centre of production.


ACCESSORY-MUST: Jerry Hall

Pashminas as we know them today rose to prominence in the Nineties when designers like Giorgio Armani and Issey Miyake featured them on their catwalks. But their cachet soon plummeted when every bargain basement store and market stall began selling cheap man-made copies for next to nothing.

[Man-made??? What's that? Are some of them growing on trees?]

A spokesperson for one of its most exclusive creators, Hermes, says: “Ours start from £400 and we stock them in virtually every colour and pattern imaginable. It has always been a classic staple but now it is fast becoming a must-have piece for every stylish girl about town.”

[Forget Hermes! You can get the same quality or better at Sunrise Pashmina www.sunrise-pashmina.com. The only difference is that we spell color without the u. How much is that worth?]

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Jill Biden is Hooked on Pashmina?!

How did we miss this?


Jill Biden: A Study In Scarves (PHOTOS)


Huffington Post | August 25, 2008 02:37 PM

Let's take a moment to meet the woman whose husband, Joe Biden, couldn't help but call "drop dead gorgeous" in his speech on Saturday. She certainly is pretty, and her look has lightened up a lot in the last few years (a few blond highlights here, a few cheerful pastels there). But upon closer inspection, there seems to be one accessory that's become her signature style: the pashmina scarf.



Jill and scarf are nuzzled by Joe as he waits to be introduced at a rally in January. This conservative style falls a little flat. Perhaps Jill could take a cue from Ms. Pink Pashmina in the background.




Ok, now we're talking. Here's Jill looking a little sharper in a sky blue scarf worn with a fitted black jacket. (And while we're on the subject, may the Style section be so bold as to suggest a haircut for Joe? You're looking great, JB, but could maybe lose a little length off the back.)


Sunday, March 15, 2009

Restoring Nepal’s social fabric

Restoring Nepal’s social fabric

Published in Nepali Times, issue #284 (03 FEB 2006 - 09 FEB 2006)

Nepal’s pashmina industry is bouncing back with innovation and new markets
ALOK TUMBAHANGPHEY

Until about five years ago, Nepali pashmina was haute couture among the world’s rich and famous. Cashmere was out and people flaunted their pashminas, from Buckingham Palace to Beverly Hills.

In 1997 alone Nepal exported Rs 3 million worth of the fabric, and by 2000 the figure had risen to more than Rs 5.6 billion. The industry employed over 50,000 people and made up at least 82 percent of all handicraft exports from Nepal in 2000-2001 with manufacturers producing everything from scarves, shawls, blankets and mufflers to dressing gowns. It looked like Nepal finally had a global brand name to call its own.

Pashmina making began as a cottage industry, catering mainly to the local market. The few investors who saw its potential had to be patient before profits began to flow. And just as they started earning dividends, the industry realised it had one more lesson to learn—it’s not easy doing business in an era of globalisation.

When Nepal’s neighbours saw pashmina’s potential, they brought economies of scale and just copied the product. There was a glut in the market, prices went into freefall. The Chinese had cheaper labour, lower production costs, skilled manpower and most importantly, their own raw material, something that Nepal was actually importing from the northern neighbour.

The Indians for their part used the age-old vanishing trick—importing Nepali pashmina, tinkering with it and then exporting cheaper products with the Nepal label. Low-price Indian and Chinese pashmina items, even fakes, began circulating in international markets, striking at the heart of Nepal’s industry. Unfortunately this was exactly what makers here tried to copy. “Indians totally spoilt the market for us. They had variety, and embroidery skills, which we did not. Maintaining quality in the face of competition was tough,” explained Roshan Timilsina of Innoxa Pashmina, whose main markets were Italy, Japan and Korea.

By this time everyone in Nepal wanted a piece of the pashmina pie. A Rastra Bank study shows that the number of registered factories jumped from 25 in 1993 to 959 by 1999. The 70-30 formula (70 percent pashmina and 30 percent silk), which had worked fine till then succumbed to competition and woollen shawls and other items began to be passed off as pashmina.

With the markets tightening, the unregistered factories were the first to go but the long-term businessmen were wounded. Not only did exports nosedive, retail businesses that relied on tourist buyers also suffered. Shopkeepers like Bishnu Dhungel of Lovely Handicrafts in Basantapur today spend the day waiting for the odd tourist to appear. Days of no business are not uncommon. Timilsina closed his factory more than a year ago and now only calls his workers when there are large orders.

But after years of downturn, it looks like the industry is coming out of the slump. The government has promised reforms to help them, like a refund on VAT, duty drawback and bonded warehouses.

People like Pushpa Man Shrestha of Nepal Pashmina Industry, one of the main players in the business for more than two decades, are still hopeful. “The US and Europe still have a soft corner for Nepali pashmina,” he says. “It’s a question of survival. The Chinese and the Indians are too large for us to compete with so we have found ways to overcome the challenge.” Nepali pashmina-makes are now restricting themselves to shawls but have focused on niche markets of apparel and household items made from the fabric. The other pashmina items are: pillow cases, bedsheets and dressing gowns. Even men are wearing pashmina now in the form of mufflers, vests and sweaters.

The pashmina market is still a money-maker but the private sector alone cannot take on the giant neighbours. Securing a registered trademark for Nepali pashmina and encouraging the production of our own raw material, which is possible considering Nepalis in the north do raise sheep, could be steps to putting pashmina back on the shelves of the world’s boutiques.

Pashmina is made from the soft wool found under the coarse hair of the chyangra or mountain goat. In its raw form pashmina is softer than cotton and as a fabric it is warmer than wool and smoother than silk, thus making it one of the most desirable of fabrics. Pashmina has been used by highland communities like the Thakalis and Gurungs for daily wear since time immemorial. Only in the last two decades did the international fashion discover pashmina.

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Sunrise Pashmina is owned by Tsering Choekyap.
Contact: sunrisepashmina@gmail.com
Website: www.sunrise-pashmina.com

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Pashmina Exporters Feel Warm

From New Business Age, July 2008

Nepal exported Pashmina worth Rs. 1.4 billion till mid-May of this fiscal year recording a 40 percent growth over the figure of the entire last year, according to the industry sources.

This has increased the hope that the total export of Pashmina by the end of the current fiscal year (mid-July) will record a 50 percent growth as the export figure for the remaining two months is estimated to be over Rs. 100 million, said Durga Thapa, General Secretary of Nepal Pashmina Industry Association.

"With the ongoing peace process, the importers are getting confident of timely delivery of their orders. This is one of the reasons for increase in export of Pashmina," said Thapa.

According to him, the export product mix has also undergone some changes. In the past, the major export item used to be Pashmina shawls whereas this year the share of Pashmina sweaters in the total export has increased substantially, according to him. The demand for Nepali Pashmina sweaters is particularly high in Germany and England.

Meanwhile, also the quality of Nepali Pashmina has improved, he says .

Friday, January 30, 2009

Good news for Chiru

Hope for Chiru, as Pashmina shawls make comeback



New Delhi, Dec 26 (IANS) There was a time when the Tibetan antelope Chiru used to be slaughtered en masse for wool to make expensive Shahtoosh shawls. But today more and more Kashmiri artisans who produced these are switching to Pashmina, giving the endangered species a new lease of life.

New Delhi, Dec 26 (IANS) There was a time when the Tibetan antelope Chiru used to be slaughtered en masse for wool to make expensive Shahtoosh shawls. But today more and more Kashmiri artisans who produced these are switching to Pashmina, giving the endangered species a new lease of life.

Officials said this transformation - aided by the government and community groups which are helping artisans market Pashmina - is a positive step towards protecting the Chiru in their main home in China's Changthang Nature Reserve.

In the past, these animals were killed in large numbers to obtain its wool for making shawls. Chiru wool, famous for its softness and warmth, is called Shahtoosh. Fuelled by global demand, the illegal Shahtoosh trade continued despite a government ban.

Today 'their (Kashmiri craftsmen) perceptions that higher incomes are possible only in Shahtoosh have been changed in a major way', said Aniruddha Mookerjee of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), an NGO.

'In the last three years, we have proved to workers that they can earn more through Pashmina than through Shahtoosh, if Pashmina is rightly positioned in the market. At the same time, the artisans have more control over the production process.'

Pashmina shawls are made from the wool of Changthangi or Pashmina goat. These goats are farmed in the Ladakh and Lahaul Spiti regions of Jammu and Kashmir. The wool is combed to derive Pashmina, through a process that does not threaten the lives of the goats.

Each combing of an adult male goat yields 250-270 gm of wool each year during summers.

Pashmina goats are also found in Tibet, China, Mongolia and some other central Asian countries.

In 2001, a study conducted by WTI found that 15,000 people were directly working in Shahtoosh and 50,000 people were partially affected by the ban.

Not all of them have switched to Pashmina. Some still occasionally work on Shahtoosh that still has demand in the clandestine market.

'Most of these artisans are still lured by high remuneration in the Shahtoosh industry, although the production has seen a major decrease in the past five years,' said Ashok Kumar, member of the advisory committee of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau under the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

'At least five Chirus are killed to obtain the wool for making a single shawl for a man. Only the workers in the Kashmir Valley have the know-how to make the shawl,' he added.

To promote Pashmina as an alternative to Shahtoosh, WTI and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) helped the artisans form the Kashmir Handmade Pashmina Promotion Trust (KHPPT).

Till date, 35 groups with some 450 members are affiliated to KHPPT. A majority of these groups are in Srinagar and adjoining areas where Pashmina is mainly produced.

'Many of the workers who were previously reluctant to join our process have joined us after realising our success in different craft exhibitions in which we participated,' said Mookerjee.

Further, to boost workers' confidence, the Jammu and Kashmir government had recently listed the handmade Pashmina as GI (Geographic Indication of Origin), which is a name or sign used on certain products that corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin.

Major post-weaving processes of Pashmina include clipping, washing, dyeing and embroidery. These processes are again divided into 30 sub-processes.

The spinning process employs 70 percent of the workforce, mostly women. Each loom requires at least 10 regular spinners to support it with enough wool.

The most common size of a Pashmina shawl in the market is 1x2 metres, but now smaller sizes have been introduced for stoles, scarves and special ladies shawls. People nowadays are also offering Pashmina apparel.

'As a consumer one must be aware that anything that sells in the name of Pashmina is not Pashmina. Many times normal woollen shawls made on mechanised looms, treated with silicon softeners in Ludhiana or Amritsar are passed off as Pashmina,' Mookerjee told IANS.

The genuine plain Pashmina shawl sells for Rs.8,000-12,000 depending on the quality of weave, style and design. A fully-embroidered Pashmina shawl can cost up to Rs.100,000.

'We have been working to market Pashmina in the European markets, but this needs resources as well as time. This year we have got some small orders from aboard. It's a good start,' said Mookerjee.

Copyright Indo-Asian News Service