Glossary of Craft

Momme (mm) is the unit of weight for silk fabric — grams per 100 yards of material at a standard width. It measures thread density: more momme means more silk filament per square inch, which means greater durability, slower deterioration, and more pronounced material properties. Consumer bedding typically runs 12–19 momme. 22-momme is the threshold at which silk's biological benefits become clinically relevant.

At 22mm, the weave is dense enough to maintain the amino-acid surface intact through repeated washing — the property responsible for silk's skin effects. Dermatologists cite the amino-acid profile of silk fibroin (sericin-stripped mulberry silk) as a reason it does not absorb moisture from skin and hair the way cotton does. Cotton wicks; silk maintains. This translates to measurable differences in hair cuticle smoothness and skin hydration retention overnight. Below 19mm, the benefit is largely theoretical — the weave degrades too quickly to sustain it. At 22mm, it lasts.

The American Academy of Dermatology has noted silk pillowcases as a practical recommendation for patients with sensitive or acne-prone skin, due to lower friction coefficient versus cotton (silk: 0.19–0.27 vs cotton: 0.42–0.58 coefficient of friction). Thread count matters only when momme weight is sufficient.

A Geographical Indication (GI) is an intellectual property right that certifies a product originates in a specific geographic region where a quality, reputation, or characteristic is essentially attributable to that origin. In India, GI protection is governed by the Geographical Indications of Goods Act, 1999 — enacted as part of India's obligations under the WTO TRIPS Agreement. Kashmiri Pashmina holds GI Tag Number 177, granted by the Government of India in 2008. Once registered, only producers within the defined geographic boundary — Kashmir, Jammu & Kashmir — may legally label their product with the certification.

The GI designation answers a question the market cannot otherwise answer: is this actually from Kashmir? The provenance matters because fiber quality is inseparable from altitude and climate. Changthangi goats on the Changthang plateau (elevation: 14,000–17,000 ft) develop an undercoat of 12–15 micron pashm as a biological response to extreme cold. Move the animal 200km south and the fiber coarsens within two generations. The same goat breed, a different climate, produces a different product. The GI tag is the only legally enforceable guarantee that the fiber originated where the provenance label claims.

Of the pashmina sold globally online, an estimated 85% fails independent fiber-diameter testing (IWTO standards). Most contains coarser wool or nylon blends. The GI tag is not sufficient proof on its own — chain of custody documentation from weaver cooperative to studio is the full verification. At Aravat, we require both.

GOTS — the Global Organic Textile Standard — is the most rigorous third-party certification for organic fibers in textile production. It requires that a minimum of 70% of the fiber content be certified organic (95% for the "organic" label tier), prohibits a defined list of chemical inputs at every stage of production, and mandates social criteria throughout the supply chain. Unlike marketing terms such as "natural," "eco-friendly," or "sustainably sourced," GOTS certification involves annual on-site audits by accredited bodies. It is not self-certified.

The sleep relevance is specific: conventional cotton is one of the most chemically intensive crops in agriculture, using roughly 16% of global pesticide consumption on 2.5% of arable land. Residual processing chemicals (formaldehyde-based wrinkle treatments, chlorine bleaches, azo dyes) remain in finished fabric. Skin contact during sleep — 7–8 hours of close, warm-temperature exposure — is the highest-absorption window of the day. GOTS certification prohibits formaldehyde treatments, restricts heavy metals in dyes, and bans toxic finishing agents. For sleep textiles specifically, the standard directly reduces the chemical load at the moment of highest skin exposure.

A 2022 review in Contact Dermatitis found that formaldehyde-based textile finishes are among the leading causes of allergic contact dermatitis from clothing and bedding in adults. GOTS-certified textiles may not carry these finishes. For sensitive skin, eczema, or chemical sensitivity, the distinction between certified organic and conventional cotton is not cosmetic — it is clinical.

All silk comes from silkworm cocoons, but species and diet produce fundamentally different materials. Bombyx mori silkworms fed exclusively on white mulberry (Morus alba) produce the finest, most uniform filament — called Mulberry Silk. A single cocoon yields 600–900 metres of continuous filament at 10–13 microns in diameter, with a near-circular cross-section.

The circular cross-section is not aesthetic detail — it is structural. It creates prismatic light diffraction along the length of the filament: the characteristic silk lustre that no synthetic fibre can replicate, because synthetic fibres are manufactured with triangular cross-sections to simulate the effect rather than produce it. Wild silks (Tussar, Eri, Muga) have irregular, coarser filaments and a natural gold or off-white pigment that cannot be fully bleached without damaging the fibre. Karnataka, specifically Mysore district, produces India's finest Mulberry Silk — approximately 70% of the country's total raw silk output.

Changthangi (also Changra) is the mountain goat native to the Changthang plateau of Ladakh and Tibet, at elevations above 14,000 feet. The extreme altitude and temperature range — down to −40°C in winter — causes these animals to develop a dense undercoat of extraordinarily fine, hollow-core fibres as insulation. This undercoat is pashm. Every spring, herders hand-comb (not shear) the animals to collect it. The fibre diameter: 12–15 microns.

Human hair averages 70 microns. Cashmere from Chinese Inner Mongolia — the dominant commercial source — runs 15–19 microns. Merino wool: 17–24 microns. At 12–15 microns, Changthangi pashm sits at the threshold where fibre stops registering as textile to skin receptors and begins to feel like a pressure gradient change — warmth without weight. This is not metaphor; it is the mechanical result of a fibre so fine that it fills the space between skin surface micro-folds rather than resting above them. At Aravat, all pashmina uses Changthangi fibre at or below 15 microns. This is verified, not assumed.