For more than four centuries, the pashmina weavers of Kashmir have been telling their tale through the blooming chinar leaves and Teardrop paisleys. However, with the global fashion trend moving at a quicker pace and cheaper options flooding the markets, this ancient art form was on the brink of an existential crisis, until Zubair Kirmani chose to pen a different script.
The 46-year-old Srinagar native is not only designing shawls. He is also conducting a cultural rescue operation, one Quranic verse at a time.
When Heritage Becomes a Burden
Take a stroll through the old city markets of Srinagar, and you will see the same paisley designs that your grandmother used to love. This is where the trouble lies. “It’s beautiful, yes. But predictable,” says Kirmani, whose label Bounipun has already showcased at Lakme Fashion Week and Wills Lifestyle India. “If craft doesn’t progress, it won’t be timeless, it will be irrelevant.”
The statistics paint a grim picture. As pashmina designs became predictable over the past decades, the younger lot of Kashmiris began to leave the craft for better-paying jobs. The same predictability that once marked authenticity now posed a threat to the craft itself. After all, what is the point of learning a skill that doesn’t even pay the bills?
The Calligraphy Solution
Kirmani’s response to this question has been the result of years of technical innovation: combining the legendary softness of pashmina with the Kufic script, one of the oldest and most geometrically complex scripts of Islam. His latest collection, ‘Karahul’, was unveiled on Sunday at the India Islamic Centre in New Delhi, and it converts the fine wool of goats into canvases for verses of the Quran in bold, architectural Arabic lettering.
The twist here is more than just cosmetic. The Kufic script, with its characteristic vertical and horizontal strokes, has a visual rhythm that is at once meditative and contemporary. Some of these works are now to be found on walls, rather than on shoulders, and this broadens the definition of pashmina from fashion statement to religious art.
Building on Geometry
This is not the first reinvention that Kirmani has undertaken. His previous collections were inspired by Khatambandh, the wooden ceiling patterns that are characteristic of Kashmir’s old houses. These geometric patterns, some of which date back to the Mughal period, were used as blueprints for modern shawl designs that gained worldwide attention.
The calligraphy series is an extension rather than a departure from this geometric tradition. “Kufic is geometry in its purest spiritual form,” Kirmani explains. “Every letter has strict proportional rules that govern it, and these patterns would not look out of place alongside Kashmir’s architectural heritage.”
The Economics of Innovation
This is what makes Kirmani’s approach so revolutionary: he’s showing that in order to preserve tradition, sometimes you have to break with it. By designing pieces that can command a high price in international markets, he’s showing that the craft can be economically sustainable for a new generation of artisans. Kirmani’s designs show that tradition doesn’t have to be preserved in amber in order to be authentic.
The implications of Kirmani’s approach go far beyond the Kashmiri tradition. As traditional crafts around the world face the threat of mass production, Kirmani’s approach offers a way forward, not by preserving it as a museum piece, but by taking a bold and creative approach that pays homage to the past while reaching for the future.
When pashmina whispers secrets instead of just warming you, it goes from being a product to a piece of conversation. And that conversation may just be what saves an ancient craft for the next four hundred years.
The writer is pursuing MA New Media Communications at IIMC, Jammu.