Clashing Cashmere
India wants to register a Geographical Indicator tag for "Kashmiri Pashmina" but Pakistan wants to be included, and its a drama, as the business of fashion always is.
It is time to differentiate true pashmina (woven from the ultra fine and delicate hairs on a goat's tummy)from all those big scarves out there people generically call pashmina, which can be a poly/cotton blend. VIBHUTI AGARWAL of the WSJ uncorked the perfect metaphor in likening this wool war to the Champagne region of France's claim to the bev (my fave btw).
SO, what to do? I say India and Pakistan get snobby about it, join scarves and x-out the rest of the world in the quest to swathe the population in delicate goat belly fibers. Let's face it, the law is not on the side of all the luxury goods companies suing counterfeiters, so we need to stake out regional claims on luxury materials, and begin certification of authenticity that way.
On the subjects of cashmere and champagne: I am not so hot on the new "Cashmere Mafia" show. My POV in the near future.
It is time to differentiate true pashmina (woven from the ultra fine and delicate hairs on a goat's tummy)from all those big scarves out there people generically call pashmina, which can be a poly/cotton blend. VIBHUTI AGARWAL of the WSJ uncorked the perfect metaphor in likening this wool war to the Champagne region of France's claim to the bev (my fave btw).
SO, what to do? I say India and Pakistan get snobby about it, join scarves and x-out the rest of the world in the quest to swathe the population in delicate goat belly fibers. Let's face it, the law is not on the side of all the luxury goods companies suing counterfeiters, so we need to stake out regional claims on luxury materials, and begin certification of authenticity that way.
On the subjects of cashmere and champagne: I am not so hot on the new "Cashmere Mafia" show. My POV in the near future.