Aijaz Ahmad, 28, weaves pashmina shawls on a traditional loom at his home in central Srinagar, Kashmir, India. But he regrets ever learning the trade. Photo: Shoaib Shafi Aijaz Ahmad, 28, weaves pashmina shawls on a traditional loom at his home in central Srinagar, Kashmir, India. But he regrets ever learning the trade. Photo: Shoaib Shafi
Aijaz Ahmad, 28, weaves pashmina shawls on a traditional loom at his home in central Srinagar, Kashmir, India. But he regrets ever learning the trade. Photo: Shoaib Shafi
Fashion
Lifestyle /  Fashion & Beauty

Your ‘handmade’ pashmina shawl could be made by machine – one that is costing artisans their livelihoods

  • Pashmina shawl weavers and artisans in Kashmir in India say they are being unlawfully replaced by machine looms after authorities said they’d be protected
  • Some say the government is passing off machine-made shawls as handmade, bribed by rich industrialists

Topic |   Fashion
Shoaib Shafi

Updated: 8:56am, 21 Jul, 2020

Why you can trust SCMP
Aijaz Ahmad, 28, weaves pashmina shawls on a traditional loom at his home in central Srinagar, Kashmir, India. But he regrets ever learning the trade. Photo: Shoaib Shafi Aijaz Ahmad, 28, weaves pashmina shawls on a traditional loom at his home in central Srinagar, Kashmir, India. But he regrets ever learning the trade. Photo: Shoaib Shafi
Aijaz Ahmad, 28, weaves pashmina shawls on a traditional loom at his home in central Srinagar, Kashmir, India. But he regrets ever learning the trade. Photo: Shoaib Shafi
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