Fabric is the foundation of Kashmir Shawl. Fine pashmina wool is gathered, cleaned and sorted by hand, spun into fine yarns and then woven on these handlooms into various sizes, tightness, thickness.

A painstaking process due to the fact that Kashmir pashmina wool is among the finest, softest and most delicate fiber in the world, a seasoned weaver can make 5-10 centimeters a day with 6 hours of work.

At the peak time of Kashmir Shawl, approximately 2/3 of the hoursehold in Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir own at least 1 handloom. Handlooms are part of the childhood memory of many of our partners. Boys grow up listening to the "tak tak' sound of the looms, and helping with their small hands, until many of them grow up into young men and return to the family business.

For generations handlooms have provided for local families, communities and supported the entire cottage industry, even today.

Amlika means 'embroidery work by needle', or Sozani work (embroidery by small needles). A trade that has been brought into Kashmir by Persian artisans, for the purpose of expanding Kashmir Shawl output, Sozani embroidery shawls soon became a popular choice for shawl makers, enthusiasts and collectors for their affordability, flexibility and relatively shorter waiting time.

Designs are hand pressed on woven pashmina fabric using a special charcoal based ink, then passed on to the embroidery artist who will spend hundreds to thousands of hours stitching the designs and colors.

An Amlikar shawl with complex design and color combination can take 12-18 months to complete, or even years.

Today embroidery is mostly done using cotton or silk threads. Silk embroidery shawls are highly desirable as they are light, intricate and wearable all seasons.

Kani Weaving remains today the 'most complex weave' in the world. The Kashmiri Artisans have elevated the art by incorporating extremely rich, complex, imaginative designs and color palettes, embedding cultural and artistic influences from various historical periods.

The weaving process is extremely time consuming and painstaking, instead of using a shuttle, colored threads are carried by a little wooden stick (tuji) and and woven by hand following a design chart. A Kani shawl can take 6-18 months to make.

Our selection of Kani Shawls feature both modern designs, which are lighter, free-formed and easy going, as well as classic designs re-created as a tribute to this authentic, genuine heritage art.

We are inspired by the young generation shawl markers who are passinoate about family heritages, but also have the motivation to create unique, modernized styles and collaborate with new perspectives.