Kashmir's Pashmina Gets a Bold New Script

In Srinagar's old quarters, designer Zubair Kirmani turns Kashmir's famed shawl into a canvas of Kufic calligraphy, offering the craft a bold economic and artistic revival.

- Vedicaa Manoj Sawal

Morning light filters through the lattice windows of Srinagar's old city. Shops open their shutters and reveal rows of pashmina shawls. Chinar leaves bloom in thread. Paisley curves sweep gently over soft cream and saffron wool. The air holds the scent of cedar trunks and hand-spun yarn.

Pashmina has told this story for more than four centuries. The shawl holds memory in every stitch. It wraps weddings, festivals, and winter evenings in warmth. Families pass it down as heirloom and inheritance.

That long story reached a decisive chapter.

Global fashion now moves with digital speed. Buyers scroll through trends before they step into a store. Machine-made copies sell at low prices and confuse customers who struggle to tell real from imitation. Young Kashmiris weigh their future and look beyond the loom toward careers that promise quicker returns.

The designs also stayed the same for decades.

The paisley became a signature and then a repetition. Visitors admired the craft, but retailers asked for novelty. Weavers produced excellence and waited for demand to match their effort.

Into this moment stepped Zubair Kirmani, a Srinagar-born designer who views heritage as a living force.

Kirmani founded his label, Bounipun, and brought Kashmiri pashmina to national platforms such as Lakme Fashion Week and Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week.

He entered spaces where global brands compete for attention and placed handwoven wool at the center of the conversation.