Pashmina Definition

"Pashmina" is the Persian word for pashm meaning finest wool fiber, the "soft gold" king of fibers. Every summer, Himalayan farmers climb the mountains to comb the fine woolen undercoat from the neck and chest of, Himalayan mountain goat, "Pashm," not to be confused with the endangered Tibetan antelope that is killed to produce shatoosh shawls. To survive the freezing 14,000 feet high environment, Pashm grows a unique, incredibly soft inner coat, six times finer than human hair. Because it is only 14-19 microns in diameter, it cannot be spun by machines, so the wool is hand-woven into shawls.