Our latest batch of pashminas from LENA will blow your mind. The color combinations are glorious, the softness, sublime. The Himalayan Plums Shawl is no exception. The weave of the misty blue and aubergine mingle to create delicious shades of plum. You'll be so gorgeous, reaching for this piece again and again as the weather cools. Now more than ever is the time to invest in pieces that look amazing and keep us warm as we meet our friends outdoors for safety's sake. The story behind these shawls is also something you'll be proud to share with admirers.
The shawls in our pashmina collection are brought to you with pride in Silk Road Spaceship's new collaboration with LENA, a Ladakh-based pashmina company creating the finest pashminas we've ever come across in our years of travel to the Himalayas. Each piece in this exclusive collection is handwoven from ethically sourced, handspun, Changra pashmina from the Chang Tang Plateau. LENA creates its items in small batches with natural, locally sourced botanical dye materials. So whether you purchase one of these pashminas for yourself or as a gift for someone special, you'll be sharing your support for a sustainable and dignified livelihood source for Ladakhi women artisans. Get the full story on the LENA-SRS collaboration here.
ABOUT THE WEAVE: Wild indigo and lac dyes create delicious shades of plum in this shawl. Pull it over your shoulders and wrap it across your chest; you'll feel cloaked in the quiet twilight of the stark Chang Tang plain. Luxurious and thick, this is not the paper-thin pashmina ubiquitous in the United States and often coming from questionable, less than ethical manufacturers. Your pashmina comes with a reusable, hand-sewn fabric pouch so you can easily tuck it in your suitcase or store it in your closet. Gift wrapping is available upon request—this item ships priority mail, free of charge.
SIZE: 80 cm x 228 cm (Approximately 32 in x 90 in)
Each piece is in the LENA-SRS collaboration is handwoven from ethically sourced, handspun, Changra pashmina from the Chang Tang Plateau. LENA creates its items in small batches with natural, locally sourced, botanical dyes. So whether you purchase one of these pashminas for yourself or as a gift for someone special, you'll share your support for a sustainable and dignified livelihood for Ladakhi women artisans.
ABOUT WILD INDIGO:
Since its discovery about 5000 years ago, Indigo has not failed to fascinate us with its mysterious way of changing shades continuously as it ages and wears away. Just like us, at each stage of the textile's life, it will look different and surprise us with a new, unique shade of blue. This quality of Indigo and appreciation for handmade crafts has once again brought this mysterious color to the fore. Like the color of the sky and sea, natural Indigo is very much living around us.
ABOUT LAC: Lac is a red dye extract from the scale insect Laccifer lacca. Found throughout India, Southeast Asia, Nepal, Burma, Bhutan, and South China. The female lac insects seek out host trees (mainly fig and acacia) to feast and secrete a red resin. The resin is harvested from the branches and extracted for its rich, red hue. Lac extract yields a range of reds, from crimsons to burgundy reds to deep purples.
Himalayan Plums Shawl
In recent years, there have been local efforts underway in Ladakh to reclaim ownership of the pashmina trade following centuries of outside dominance, particularly from Kashmir. Multiple ventures in the region are moving into the production of finished products since most of the value is locked higher up in the supply chain.
One such venture is the all-women Leh-based startup called Lena Ladakh Pashmina, which calls itself a “slow-textile label that crafts pashmina products in small batches, where each stage of textile production is carried by hand from spinning to dyeing to weaving.”
Established in 2016 by Sonam Angmo and Stanzin Minglak, the startup has two key objectives:
1) Making apparel in a distinctly Ladakhi manner from spinning with a willow spindle instead of a Charkha, plying with the same spindle, and hand-weaving to dyeing the yarns with locally-found herbs, while ensuring that revenue from the pashmina trade stays local.
2) A commitment towards putting into practice the dying traditional skill of making textiles by hand, while also providing a sustainable and dignified source of livelihood for women from these communities, who for generations have quietly kept these skills alive.
Silk Road Spaceship is delighted to collaborate with LENA and help them advance thier mission.
