Cashmere Insights
Everything we publish comes out of actually making cashmere in Kathmandu since 1982. Grouped below by what you are trying to work out, rather than by the date it was written.
Sourcing & Trade
For brands and retailers deciding where to manufacture, and what it costs to bring the goods home.
Switching from China to Nepal for cashmere and natural-fibre knitwear
Why brands are re-examining where their knitwear is made.
Choosing the right sustainable cashmere manufacturer
What to check before you believe a sustainability claim.
Manufacturing
How the cloth is actually made — the techniques behind every piece we ship.
Weaving
Handloom, dobby, jacquard and ikat, at widths from 20 to 250 cm.
Knitting
Hand-flat machines from 1.5 to 14 gauge, mended by the same hands.
Printing
Screen print for bold colour, digital for fine detail.
How jacquard fabric is made
Two-hundred-year-old loom technology, still in use.
Quality & Materials
What separates one cashmere product from another, and how to tell before you buy.
What is cashmere, and what is pashmina?
The terminology, the fibre, and where the two words diverge.
Ten ways to test whether cashmere is real
Practical checks you can run on a sample in your hand.
Natural dyeing on cashmere pashmina
The oldest and least wasteful way to put colour on fibre.
The wool of Himalayan yaks
Warm, durable, and naturally coloured — a different proposition.
Care & Product
For brands writing care labels, and for anyone who owns the finished piece.
How to care for a cashmere garment
Washing, drying and storage — what to put on your care label.
Choosing a pashmina scarf
Weight, size and blend, and what each one is actually for.
Our Story
Two brothers, an ancestral house in Ason, and forty-plus years of cashmere.
Our history, heritage and story
How a pashmina shop in Ason became a manufacturer.
Have a question we haven’t written about?
Ask it. If it is a good question, it usually becomes the next article.