Handwoven cashmere is made out of the fur forming the downy undercoat of the Kashmir goat. This animal is found in the Kashmir valley and the mountains of Ladakh. The yarn used for a pashmina shawl or stole or fabric that is now used even for ready to wear is taken from the wool of the goat. It is then handspun into wool yarn and pashmina fabric is then handwoven. The technique is famed the world over for the luxurious hand feel and light weight of the product. The word "Cashmere" is an anglicised version of Kashmir. It came to be used for pashmina when the shawls reached Europe in the 19th century and gained huge popularity.

Pashmina or cashmere is used as the base fabric for dorukhas (double-sided shawls), Kani shawls as well as the woven Jamavars from the region.

Kashmir pashmina considered an even finer variety than cashmere used by luxury brands like Burberry, Hermes, or Loro Piana. It's warm and comfortable as the fibre absorbs and retains moisture, and is a little weaker than fine wool. The diameter of the famed Kashmir pashmina yarn is less than 15 microns, an indicator of its delicate feel. This tradition is GI-tagged along with some certifications from the Srinagar Crafts Institute. They developed a Pashmina Mark for authentic yarn just like Handloom Mark or Craft Mark which is an authentication label. This helps sellers buy the original pashmina only from the right source. Plain or dyed handwoven pashminas too have clientele across the world. They are sold from some of the finest luxury stores in the world, from Harrods in London to Takashimaya in Singapore. They are also available in fine museum stores like MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) and the Met (Metropolitan Museum of Art) in the US, and the Louvre in Paris.

According to a local legend, when the 14th century saint Mir Sayyid Ali Hamdani visited Ladakh, he noticed the softness of the goat wool from the region, made a pair of socks using that wool and gifted it to Sultan Qutubdin, the king of Kashmir. Amazed, the king got Ali Hamdani to bring raw goat wool from Ladakh and start shawl weaving in Kashmir. During the colonial era, the shawl weaving industry of Kashmir was thriving, thanks to officers of the British East India Company who were obsessed with the fabric. Handloom cashmere shawls were first brought to Western Europe by the legendary Napoleon Bonaparte, when he sent an exquisite piece all the way to Paris from his campaign in Ottoman Egypt. 

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