Bridging two worlds
Karma Cashmere forges new relationships with luxurious shawls,
Girl and guy from two different worlds fall in love, get married and are separated during a nine-month immigration process. A few years later, they settle in Ottawa and launch a business that weaves together their two cultures.
Prajeena Karmacharya of Nepal and David Venn from Nova Scotia are behind Karma Cashmere, a colourful collection of elegant cashmere shawls and scarves.
“Authentic cashmere pashminas have been popular among royal and noble dynasties of Nepal as the finest and most luxurious gift for more than a thousand years. We want to bring this authentic luxury item to the market in Ottawa,” Karmacharya says.
“Cashmere is very labour intensive to produce. Genuine pashmina cashmere is so delicate that it cannot be spun by machine. A skilled spinner hand spins only about 20 grams per day. It takes 15 days to spin enough pashmina to produce a shawl. Each shawl goes through a long process such as hand spinning, knitting, dyeing, finishing, cutting, quality assurance, inspection and finally shipping,” Venn says.
Karma Cashmere features two types of scarves: 100-per-cent cashmere ($130) and a 70/30-per-cent blend of cashmere and silk respectively ($85). There are 12 colours to choose from, including sky blue, pinks, purples, lavender and more. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to education programs for girls in Nepal.
“Karma is about trust and relationships. Our business is based on this and so is our relationship with the villagers and the people we are selling to,” Karmacharya says. “We need to know that the labourers — about 30 of them — are working in good conditions. We spoke with them directly.”
Karmacharya spent several months visiting factories to determine the right fit. The couple returned this past summer to meet with the manufacturers and tour the workshops.
The wool is collected from mountain goats known as “chyangra,” which are raised 13,000 feet above sea level in Nepal. The goats sport an inner coat of hair that is the best natural insulation in the world.
The fibres are collected after being shed naturally during springtime and are hand-combed by the mountain herders. The goats regrow the inner coat again in winter.
Karmacharya describes herself as a curious soul who left her home in Kathmandu in 2009 to see the world and study international development at The Hague, Netherlands. She met Venn in class soon afterward and says she was literally swept off her feet. He proposed while they were riding horses on a beach in The Hague. After their wedding, they honeymooned in the mountains and came up with the idea of forming a company to bridge their two worlds.
“David returned to Canada a week after our wedding to start the immigration process. I had the time to look into the business and to meet with the skilled artisans.”
The two were apart for nine months but spoke by Skype twice a day before being reunited. They recently started selling their scarves to friends and family and by word of mouth. They will be setting up a table Dec. 9 at the Ladies Who Lunch event at the National Arts Centre, which is open to the general public. To order online, visit karmacashmere.com. They offer free shipping anywhere in North America.