Installation view of From Persia to Paisley: Global Luxury and the Kashmir Shawl

From Persia to Paisley: Global Luxury and the Kashmir Shawl
Through November 29, 2026
Main Campus | Law Building
Hossein Afshar Art of the Islamic Worlds Galleries

Newly opened at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, From Persia to Paisley: Global Luxury and the Kashmir Shawl explores the remarkable global history of these sumptuous textiles and their influence on art, fashion, and textile production.

Coveted in courtly circles in India, Iran, Africa, and Europe, and worn by both men and women, Kashmir shawls were the ultimate transregional luxury good for hundreds of years, sparking artistic exchange and the formation of global textile industries from the 16th to 19th century. From Persia to Paisley: Global Luxury and the Kashmir Shawl highlights 20 remarkable shawls, sashes, and fragments.

Kashmir shawls and paintings show how a single textile transformed global fashion, fueled industrial innovation, and shaped collecting tastes across Asia, Africa, Europe, and America. Handwoven from pashm, the extraordinarily fine and resilient underhair of Himalayan goats, a single shawl required months of coordinated labor among expert designers, dyers, and weavers. Each design motif was built thread by thread using the complex kani technique, developed by Kashmiri artisans to construct intricate, multicolored surfaces.

In the 19th century, demand for Kashmir shawls surged across Britain and Napoleonic France, thanks to Empress Josephine, a French fashion icon. In Lyon, a programmable loom developed by Joseph-Marie Jacquard allowed for machine-made Kashmir shawls in Europe, marking a pivotal moment in the history of industrial technology. Instantly recognizable as a status symbol, Kashmir shawls adorned the shoulders of Mughal Indian emperors and the waists of Zand Persian dancers. Iranian and European paintings demonstrate the varied fashions for wearing them.

To learn more, click here.