LENA shawls

There are a handful of young entrepreneurs such as Jigmats of Jigmat Couture, Nawang of Nomadic Woollen Mills, Sonam and Ming of LENA and a few others, who have been developing the pashmina shawls for tourists and export. This has created livelihood opportunities for a large number of people within the region. Instead of trying to compete with the highly skilled Kashmiri artisans, the young entrepreneurs, using local skills have been able to develop a range of beautiful woollen products creating a strong Ladakhi identity which is different than the Kashmiri merchandise.

LENA, started by two enterprising young women, Sonam Angmo and Stanzin Minglak in 2016, means Pashmina in local Ladakhi (bhoti) language. Both studied in Delhi and wanted to do research in biotechnology, but there were no work opportunities when they returned to Leh. Both their fathers worked for the government at the handloom department and encouraged the two young ladies to become entrepreneurs and work with indigenous wool and the pashm fibre. The fathers contacts with the nomads, spinners and weavers helped them kickstart their business.

The girls were excited with the prospect of working with women groups. Like many in their generation today, they are environmentally conscious and decided that all their work processes should be eco-friendly. The art of natural dyeing was practically lost but after a long hunt they found two old women in Zanskar who were willing to help them setup their dyeing unit. They use local highland marigold, which gives shades of yellow and green, the Himalayan rhubarb which gives a wonderful orange, and Arnebia (ratanjyot) mixed with butter, which gives a bright red and a lovely grey shade without the butter. This is an edible colour which is also used in making ritual cakes for ceremonies. Alum or rhubarb leaves are used as a mordant. Lac, madder and indigo cakes which are not indigenous to this land are bought from the local market. Walnut shells give a wonderful shades of brown. The walnut and indigo do not need a mordant. They follow the ancient method of urine vat for indigo fermentation. Indigo cakes with stale cow urine and local barley wine (chang) are used to kickstart the indigo vat.

There is a growing interest in hand-spun, handwoven indigenous products that are unique and chemical free. Leh has a lot of high-end tourists visiting during the summer months which also helps them connect with a wider audience. In addition, the use of online marketing, which is cost effective and has a huge global reach, has helped them promote their story and products worldwide and build collaborations with boutiques and individual weavers from California and Boston, and from Prague to Japan.. As Sonam says, “thanks to the efficient courier service and bank transfer facilities, we now send our shawls to customers all over the world”.

There was a time when everyone would spin or weave in Ladakh during the long winter months. From a young age, a daughter, by observing her mother, would learn to spin and the art was passed on over generations. Spinning continues to be done using the basic spindle but in the last few years only the old were spinning. Things have changed today as there is a growing demand for locally produced, hand-spun, handwoven pashmina. With a rise in wages for spinning and no alternate work opportunities, more and more young, educated girls are motivated to spin.

Sonam took me to meet a group of women from Zanskar, who have settled in Leh. They form groups of six to seven women who meet at each other’s homes in rotation and spin or knit together. They cook and eat together, and spend a happy, fruitful day together; laughing, chatting as they work. A pleasant way to spend the day and earn a decent wage, without any stress. Their families are also happy with this arrangement as the women are safe and are able to contribute to the family income.

The Lena duo are passionate about their work and are keen to develop a unique identity for hand-spun and handwoven pashmina products that have a strong Ladakhi identity. They have created strong narratives for their products, describing the sustainable production processes and stories about empowering women, which have touched a chord with their customers. Each piece of pashmina is wrapped beautiful in a fabric bag along with a tag with the story behind the product. This has generated a lot of interest in the products, which translates into sales and helps sustain their work. Sonam believes, “a handcrafted object carries within it the energy of the maker and imprints the piece of an artist’s soul. We feel fortunate to offer something which is deeply rooted to our native Ladakh”.