A new initiative called Global Luxury Pashmina Dialogue, spearheaded by entrepreneur-cum-pashmina artist Babar Afzal with support from several private luxury brands and the Jammu and Kashmir government, will soon start covering six Indian cities to showcase the lost sheen of the luxurious fabric and to raise funds for the pashmina weaving community of Kashmir.
Pashmina is an extremely fine wool variety harnessed from mountain goats in Kashmir’s Changthang plateau and Malra region. Pashmina goats are also found in parts of Himachal Pradesh, Nepal and northernmost areas of Pakistan.
The series of events in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Udaipur and Kolkata aim to revive the Rs 1,700-crore ( US$ 265 millions) pashmina industry in India and will bring together the largest importers of pashmina — Canada, Germany, Monaco, France and the United Arab Emirates.
Art auctions, exhibition of pashmina products, and exclusive fashion shows will be part of the dialogue that aims to go international later.
Besides antique collection from the Mughal courts, two dozen pashmina artworks, each costing between Rs 20 lakhs and Rs 50 lakhs, will be showcased. Sozni pashmina shawls, which take around six to seven years to be made and cost around Rs 70 lakhs, will be exhibited as well.
