Chiru’s sacrifice
becomes a shawl to die for…
Mention
Kashmir and its mystery and intrigue capture undivided interest. Deep in history of wars and struggle, the
valley of Kashmir is full of mighty mountains reducing everything else to
miniscule size. The enormity of the
Himalaya range, with its twists and turns, voices echo between boulders of rock
way above sea level, yet in the meadows, are spangled with daisies, hyacinths,
and daffodils and almonds, cherry, apples and strawberries are in
abundance. Kashmir is considered as the “heaven
brought on earth.”
Fast
forward within the enclaves of New York high society where ladies lunch, spring
has sprung, still with a little nip in the air.
Too cold for a summer dress, not cold enough for a heavy coat, the
Kashmiri Shatoosh shawl elegantly covers the shoulders of these sophisticated
elite ladies. Their last names could
easily be a Rockefeller, Trump, Buckley or Santo Domingo with a few Shatoosh Pashimina
shawls likely to be hanging off their nonchalant shoulders.
Back deep
in the canyons of the Himalaya range, these Chiru goats roam from Tibet across
the mountainous range to as far as Kashmir. The chiru antelope lives in one of the harshest environments on earth, at
an altitude of over 5,000 meters. Their special type of down fur, which is both
very light and warm, allows them to survive in the freezing conditions of the
plateau where they gather at one point of the year.
The chin
hairs of wild goats or Chirus have been claimed to shed onto bushes, trees and
rocks and then painstakingly collected tuft by tuft by Tibetan nomads. In actuality, they are made from the wool of
the Tibetan antelope, a rare and endangered species found only on the desolate
high plains of the Tibetan plateau in China.
Wildlife experts confirm that these antelopes are being slaughtered by
poachers to keep up the demand for shawls in the Western world. The Moghul emperors also sought after these
ultra soft, ultra thin, ultra warm shawls.
Only Royals of yester-years were allowed to wear them for they were very
expensive, it took skilled artisan to weave the delicate hair, measuring
between 9 and 11 micrometer. It extracts
the lives of three Chiru to make one 2ms x 1ms lady’s shawl and double the
lives of Chirus to produce a man’s shawl.
These shawls are so fine; they can be passed through a wedding ring,
leading them to be known as “ring shawls.”
Giddily
sipping Proséco, at a New York brasserie, these ladies who lunch or perhaps
finished a gym session with their personal trainer, or ready to catch their
chartered jets to the Paris fashion week got subpoenaed by Newark’s US
Marshall for illegally possessing these
wonderful exquisite shawls that have now been deemed “endangered species.” They were subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury sitting in Newark and
to bring with them “any and all shahtoosh shawls, other shahtoosh items, and
items made from the Tibetan antelope, chiru or ibex,” to be confiscated.
The list of the
multi-rich owners ranging from Begum Aga Khan to the Italian designer,
Valentino, who’s personal collection boasts as many as 200. Nan Kempner, New York City socialite says, “
Valentino has one in every known color, he’s got one to match every sweater and
every coat and every suit.” Saint Moritz
society talks of Susan Gutfreund, wife of the Chairman of Soloman Brothers, had
made a bed-throw for the late Greek shipping tycoon Stavros Niarchos.
Pray, tell – did voluntarily
giving up those shawls to US Marshalls happen or did they go into hiding? Pat Buckley, wife of the conservative
columnist, William F. Buckley Jr, said, “I haven’t heard of anything so
ridiculous in a long time. Some of our
friends will have to call a moving van.”
International trade in
Tibetan-antelope wool has been prohibited since 1975. The United Nations
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora, and, unfortunately for the buyers of shahtooshes, conservation activists
at the World Wildlife Fund, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and the Tibetan
Plateau Project have prodded governments to crack down on the largely unregulated
shahtoosh trade. In the US, knowing violation of the law with intent to sell is
a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for
individuals or $500,000 for companies. Like ivory and tortoiseshell,
shahtooshes are subject to confiscation by the U.S. Customs Service, a fact
that has not been widely publicized until recently.
So with huge
excitement and anticipation I finally had the opportunity last week, outside of
the US, and inside the well guarded house of a S.E. Asian tycoon, to touch and drape myself around several
shatoosh shawls. In the secret enclave
of a well-known collector, shawls upon shawls were scattered before me. It is indeed every bit an exclusive luxury,
the softness, the lightness and although the expert was describing the
difference, with the local Indian community bringing these pieces in, I could
easily be duped into paying many thousands of dollars in order to feel special.
Undoubtedly these
embroidered pieces are indeed exquisite.
Shahtoosh looks like an ordinary shawl until you feel it. It has a smoothness of silk. Once touched and handled, it’s like caressing
cloud. Difficult to control, the weavers
in Kashmir are so deft and skilled that they can even embroider over these
shawls.
The Indian Government
has banned the killing of a Chiru..
Banning has not vanished its demands either. Suffice to say Shatoosh has
re-emerged in mega rich homes of South East Asia, where I am luxuriating in
now, sipping iced tea and delighting in the beauty. As a New York socialite once said, “it’s a
craving, if you have one, then you want another, and another.” There are no alternatives to this King of
Wool.
In this particular
Chinese home, where I had my first encounter with Shatoosh, I wondered out aloud
if they ate Shark’s Fin, yet another endangered species. There was an
uncomfortable shifting of positions with suspicion of my intent, their body
language expressed uneasiness. Apparently
dissention within the family through their daughter’s opposing such collection
of heirlooms, as she is campaigning against endangered species; Shark’s fin
normally eaten is banned from the house and supporting Shatoosh was not spoken
about in her presence. Turning around I
caught a glimpse of elephant tusks in the next room. Pray, they are plastic? I never knew.
I came away with an
awkward thought. Exploitation of
animals, so that pocket-power, taste and exclusivity puts one above the ranks
of others undeniably leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Or perhaps the teenager daughter need to be
made aware that the art and
craftsmanship in weaving and embroidering employs about 80,000 people in the
Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The State has its own laws regarding
endangered species. Twelve established
families in Srinagar control the Shahtoosh business.
Belinda Wright
film-maker and photographer of The Wildlife Protection Society of India says, “the people with most to lose from a
successful choking off of the shahtoosh trade are about a dozen wealthy
businessmen.” She added, “The artisans
who spin and weave it would continue with their customary trade in cashmere,
which is produced from a domestic goat.”
So we have
an alternative.
Could I
convince my newly found friend with an extreme passion for collecting Shatoosh
that there is a new wool called Shahmina, a wool developed recently in India,
with virtually the same weight, texture and warmth as shahtoosh, produced from
pure strains of high-altitude goats. With no bloodshed involved.
He nods,
but unconvinced. Banned goods, illegal, hard
to get, almost at extinction never tasted so good.
.
It
