The story behind the print
Kashida
- Origin:
- Kashmir (inspiration)
- Since:
- Centuries old; flourished under the Mughals
Flowing flowers, vines, birds and paisleys drawn from Kashmir's kashida embroidery, printed in soft colours on cotton.
Kashida is the name for the embroidery of Kashmir. The word is usually traced to Persian and is often explained as “drawn” or “flowing”, like handwriting. Embroidery in the valley is believed to have arrived with traders on the old Silk Route, and Kashmir’s textile crafts grew greatly under the Mughals.
Kashida takes almost all its motifs from nature: the chinar leaf, the lotus (pamposh), the iris, flowering vines, fruit, birds and the paisley. They are stitched in long, flowing lines with plenty of open space around them, which gives the work its light, airy feel.
Our Kashida range borrows these motifs and that airy spacing, and prints them on 100% cotton with deep-coloured pillow covers. It is a printed tribute to the embroidery, not hand embroidery. See our Jaipuri screen print story for how it is made.
