Historians may never know when embroidery first came into being, but it is safe to say that as long as people have been making clothes out of fiber, they have also been embroidering them. The sewing techniques people use to make, tailor, mend, or reinforce clothes also opens a world of possibilities to decorate and embellish them. The first solid records we have of embroidery are as far back as 500 BCE China and 300 CE Sweden.

Embroidery most likely emerged from the Levant, where gold thread was used to lavishly decorate the royal robes of the Persian emperors. The art form then made its way into China and then slowly entered Northern India, which today is the nexus for this art. The first place embroidery really took hold in India was Kashmir. As we emerged into the Common Era, specific kinds of embroidery sprouted up all over India. Each one is specific to the region it is from—we get Chikankari from Lucknow, Kantha from Bengal, Phulkari from Punjab, Aari from Kashmir, and Shisha from Rajasthan and Gujarat.

With this absolutely colorful history, it is no wonder designers like Aneeth Arora of Péro and Dries Van Noten chose to work closely with Indian communities to preserve the wonderful skills of these regions and instill their clothes with an artistic mastery like none other. Embroidery is not only beautiful to look at but it gives each item a sense of uniqueness that feels both warm and personal.

Embroidery is an art that can be found worldwide. It has been used as a sign of wealth, as a sign of individuality, or even as a sign marking a girl’s path into womanhood. It has been a sacred source of income for farmers in the winter time and one of the few historical sources of income available for women until about the 19th century. It has also been a community event, where women get together to simultaneously embroider, relax and socialize. With each motif created on a piece of cloth, a story is told.

Long Nv San Jiu, a fourth-generation tin embroiderer from the Guizhou Province in China states:

Travel with us as we explore the different types of historical embroidery specific to certain regions of India:

As an honored gift to his allies, Zahiruddin Babur, the first founder of the Mughal Empire would give a sumptuous set of clothes to mark the partnership. The gift would include a turban, long coat, gown, fitted jacket, sash, shawl, trousers, shirt, and scarf. Each item would be woven from the goat fur of the region (also known as cashmere) and embroidered with gold-thread. This ancient type of gold embroidery, originally from Persia, is called Zardozi and is a favorite today by Indian Brides and is used for any garment that needs that extra royal touch.

In 1568 CE Babur’s grandson, Mughal Emperor Akbar conquered Kashmir. The Mughal emperor Akbar was a huge fan of a beautiful aesthetic. So, along with fostering the production of cashmere (or Kashmir) shawls, he also fostered the art form of embroidery, setting up royal workshops in Lahore, Agra, Fatehpur, and Ahmedabad. Kashmiri embroidery draws its inspiration from nature, mostly featuring birds, flower petals, vines, lotuses and trees. It only uses a simple chain stitch and was first mostly seen as a white thread on a white or off-white cloth; today Kashmiri embroidery can be extraordinarily colorful, but still uses the original chain stitch. Today we call this embroidery from Kashmir either Kashidakari or Aari.

Just below Kashmir, on the northern point of India, is the region of Punjab. Punjab is known for their embroidery style called Phulkari. Its name literally means flower-work and usually features complete flower motifs. As the common embroidery of “country” folk, it is characterized by elaborate floral motifs entirely covering a modest hand-spun cloth—no space on the cloth is spared. Historically, it was primarily used as a pastime by women of the household, but today it is used by Indian fashion designers as a purposeful design element.

Next we go to the northeastern city of Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, where the common form of embroidery is called Chikankari. It is said that the Mughal Emperor Jahangir (who ruled after Akbar) is responsible for fostering this style of embroidery in this region. It is very similar to Kashmir embroidery, where the motifs are nature based and a white thread is used on white muslin or cotton, but Chikankari uses more complex stitches such as buttonhole stitches, french knots, running stitches and shadow work. The patterns are created by block printing the motif on the fabric, and then stitching over the pattern.

Traveling to the Bay of Bengal, we go now to West Bengal where the most common form of embroidery is called Kantha. Closely related to the Japanese form of embroidery called Sashiko, Kantha embroidery involves long running stitches that bond two or more sari fabrics together. A utilitarian yet intimate practice, Kantha is traditionally sewn for loved ones as an intricate and personal keepsake. It is also a modest form of embroidery, usually used to reinforce fabrics that are wearing out or to make something new out of old pieces of cloth.

The embroidery most commonly associated with India is called Shisha and it is from the western regions of Rajasthan and Gujarat. Shisha originated from Persia and is also called mirror-work. It involves using uncountable tiny, interlacing threads to sew hundreds of little mirrors onto the fabric. This embroidery is usually seen on items such as bedspreads and pillows.

This deeply folkloric artform touches hearts because it translates a sense of beauty that is deeply human. It takes time and patience to create, and is simply transformative—both for the sewer and for the garment.

Cashmere yarns are the fiber of choice for those passionate about soft and luxurious knitwear. This diamond of the knitwear world can only be found in a few specific regions: Mongolia, the Tibetan Plateau, and Kyrgyzstan. It comes from the domesticated goats that live in these high and dry grassland areas. Beneath their thick, coarse outer-coats of hair that protects them from the blowing winds, negative temperatures, and winter snows lies a soft and downy undercoat of fur, which is what we call cashmere.

This downy undercoat is a product of the goat’s evolutionary adaptation to the extreme winter conditions (the weather can drop to -58°F), making it one of the warmest and lightest fibers in the world. The longer the days and colder the weather, the longer and finer the goat’s hair will be, which is why these areas produce the finest and best cashmere in the world.

In spring, the goats begin to molt and shed their coats in anticipation of warmer temperatures; this is when the native herders begin the cashmere harvest. They shear off the coarse outer layer of hair and begin the painstaking process of gently combing out the precious undercoat of warm, soft hairs. The herders must time this combing carefully because if done too early, the cashmere is not ready to be shed, and if too late, it will fall from the goats and be blown away by the wind while at pasture.

The herders comb, wash, and hand sort the wool to remove any coarse outer-coat hairs. They then sort the fibers by length and size. The longest and thinnest hairs will be sold for a premium price. The thicker and shorter hairs will be made into less expensive garments and are often used as part of a blend with other fibers.

As you can see, the supply of cashmere is rather small—it accounts for only 0.2% of the total output of all animal fibers: it is restricted by geography, dependent upon mother nature, and the will and skill of the native grassland herders. It takes the hair from 3-4 goats just to make one sweater! This rarity mixed with a lengthy manual fiber-to-yarn process is what contributes to cashmere’s reputation of being truly a luxury item.

The fineness of a cashmere item comes down to the length (measured in mm), diameter (measured in μm—microns), and color of the hair collected from the goats (cashmere comes in three colors: brown, grey, or white; with white hair being the most valuable as it is the easiest to dye).

In order for the goat hair to be considered cashmere, it must be under 19 μm in diameter (human hair is on average 45 μm) and be at least 34 mm long. A micron is one millionth of a meter! The diameter of the hair is what indicates the softness—the thinner the diameter, the softer the fiber will be since it is less likely to push against the skin in a way that you will feel a prickle. Only the most uniform and longest fibers (longer than 36 mm) pass through an additional combing process to be converted into “worsted” yarn. Worsted cashmere creates a finer, smoother, and higher-quality yarn that produces a garment that is more lightweight and breathable.

The feeling of softness is also created by the scales and structure of the hair shaft. Cashmere fibers don’t have a medulla, which is a stiff, structural piece running the length of the hair shaft, common in sheep with coarse fleece. The nonmedullated (hollow) hairs of cashmere make it extra smooth, which translates as making it extra soft—and provides air pockets that add to its lightweight warmth.

The quality of the water where the raw cashmere is dyed and processed is also extraordinarily important to the final quality of the garment. During dyeing, the raw fiber is immersed into warm water for three hours, and the unique qualities of the water impart particular grades of softness onto the fibers. The alpine regions of Italy and the highlands of Scotland produce the finest cashmere in the world because of their unique freshwater lakes, such as Lake Como of Genoa, the alpine lakes of Biella, and Loch Leven in Kinross.

Cashmere is then generally spun into either single or double-ply thread. The ply denotes how many yarns are twisted together to make a single thread—two-ply means that two yarns are twisted together. It’s thought that the higher the ply is, the more durable the thread will be, since it is composed of more strands. Cashmere is spun into plies anywhere from one to eight. A cashmere garment woven with two-ply is usually considered plenty durable and not likely to get holes, and depending on the quality and reputation of the manufacturer, single-ply cashmere can be plenty durable as well, yet with an added ethereal quality.

Cashmere fibers can be compactly arranged during the spinning process, resulting in excellent warmth retention (typically 8 times that of wool) without adding bulk, which is why cashmere garments are uniquely breathable, warm, and comfortable. People who choose cashmere, do so because they know that it is one of the most beautiful fabrics that will last them a lifetime of use if cared for properly.