The World's Oldest Luxury Fiber, Made Honestly
Lumusae is a direct-trade Himalayan artisan-made cashmere house, founded in Kathmandu by Shivani Ranjit. Every piece is hand-combed in Upper Mustang, hand-woven over seven days, and traceable to the artisans who made it.
Pashmina Has a Counterfeit Problem
One of the world's oldest luxury fibers is also one of the most counterfeited. In markets from Kathmandu to Milan, shawls labeled "100% pashmina" are frequently acrylic. Sweaters sold as "Himalayan cashmere" are often woven thousands of miles from the Himalayas. The herders in Upper Mustang, the place where real pashmina actually comes from, earn less each year while the brands selling their fiber post record margins.
Lumusae exists to end that, one honest garment at a time.
"The word 'pashmina' had stopped meaning anything. I wanted to make it mean something again."
— Shivani Ranjit, Founder
Founded in Kathmandu by Someone Who Grew Up Inside the Craft
Shivani Ranjit founded Lumusae in 2024. She was born and raised in Kathmandu, in the shadow of the Himalayas, and grew up watching Nepali artisans transform the fiber of Changra goats into some of the world's finest textiles. She did not discover pashmina on a trip. She inherited it.
Most well-known ethical cashmere brands are founded by Westerners who traveled to the source and built a company around what they found. Lumusae is the opposite story: a Nepali founder building a pashmina company within the country the fiber comes from, on terms set by her community.
"Seven days. One sweater. That's the real timeline of hand-woven Himalayan pashmina. We don't shorten it — the shortcut is where the industry went wrong."
Upper Mustang, 14,000 Feet Up
Our fiber comes from a single region: Upper Mustang, in the Nepali Himalayas. Changra goats graze at altitudes above 14,000 feet, where winter temperatures drop below −40 °C. To survive, they grow an undercoat so fine that a strand can pass through a wedding ring. Each spring, herders comb that undercoat by hand — never shearing, never machine-processing.
That's the only kind of fiber Lumusae uses. No blends. No mill-sourced wool. No "inspired by Himalayan cashmere." Just the real ethically sourced cashmere, from the real place, combed from real animals by the people who raised them.
We never blend or dilute our cashmere.
Purity is our signature.
Seven Days, One Sweater, Every Time
From the moment the raw fiber leaves Upper Mustang, a single Lumusae garment takes a full seven days to make. Nepali artisans clean, spin, and hand-weave the fiber using methods passed down through generations. Each step, from the sorting of fiber by length, the spinning on traditional wheels, the setting of the warp, the weave itself, and the finishing, is done by hand.
No garment leaves our workshops faster. No garment cuts a step. If the craft took seven days a century ago, it takes seven days today.
What You're Paying For
Every Lumusae piece is 100 percent cashmere from the Himalayan region. Not a blend. Not a percentage. Not a translation error. If a garment is on this website, it was hand-combed in Mustang, hand-woven in Nepal, and sold to you with the whole chain visible.
Our herders and artisans are paid above-market rates. Our sourcing is verifiable. Our certifications (NPIA) are authentic. Our collections of affordable cashmere for women and affordable cashmere for men reflect what luxury should be: exceptional craftsmanship, ethical production, authentic materials, and transparent value without unnecessary markups.
- Traceable. Fiber from one region. Artisans we can name.
- Fair. Herders and weavers were paid above-market rates.
- Honest. 100% pashmina, every time. No blends.
What Makes Us Different
Cruelty-free
No Synthetic Fibers
No PFAS
No Azo Dyes
No Bleach Added
A Note From Our Founder
Thank you for being here.
I started Lumusae because I grew up watching something beautiful get diluted — and the people who made it beautiful get paid less for it every year. I couldn't fix the whole industry. But I could build one honest company, from inside the country this craft belongs to, and I could make sure every sweater that leaves our workshops tells the truth.
If you ever want to see the cashmere handmade in Nepal, workshops, the looms, or the goats — email me. I mean that.
Dhanyabad.
— Shivani Ranjit
Founder, Lumusae
Kathmandu, Nepal
PRESERVE HERITAGE. EMPOWER HANDS. DELIVER AUTHENTICITY.
Lumusae exists to create a bridge between Himalayan artisans and global customers who appreciate authenticity, luxury, and meaningful craftsmanship.
We honor the legacy of Nepalese weaving and bring timeless, high-quality cashmere to the world—one piece at a time.
How Our Cashmere Is Harvested?
At Lumusae, we believe that luxury fashion choices should be ethical and sustainable throughout the process. From mindful fiber collection to traditional weaving practices, we ensure that every stage of our craftsmanship reflects respect for animals, artisans, and the Himalayan heritage.
Unlike conventional cashmere collection methods, our fibers are gathered during the Changra goats’ natural molting season using gentle hand-combing techniques. The process has been further improved through an initiative supported by the European Union-backed EU-Nepal Trade and Investment Program (TIP) and the International Trade Center (ITC).
