Textile museum curator Natalia Nekrassova’s scholarly show not only displays beautiful wearables, but places them in a historical context, telling a fascinating story of East-West trade, colonialism, technological change and class divisions.

Around the year 1800, shawls woven from extraordinarily light and soft mountain goat wool in Kashmir (hence our word for this magic fibre, cashmere), worn for generations by upper-class men in India, were imported into Europe. Rich European women coveted these luxury items.

A highly skilled Indian hand-weaving industry developed to turn out shawls for the European market, their elaborate patterns inspired by the “exotic” florals and colour schemes of oriental carpets. These wraps morphed into impractical garments as big as bedspreads that were draped over full-skirted dresses from neckline to hem and marked their wearers as members of the leisure class.

Attempts to establish Himalayan goats in Europe failed, but British weavers approximated the gossamer Kashmiri fabric using silk and wool. When jacquard looms allowed mills in the Scottish town of Paisley (hence our word for the design) and elsewhere to mass-produce affordable patterned shawls, the rich promptly stopped wearing them. The Indian shawl-weaving industry collapsed, and many weavers died in an 1870 famine, taking their specialized skills with them.

From the restrictive, multi-layered attire of 19th-century women to the skinny jeans and high heels of today, there’s meaning behind the vicissitudes of fashion. International trade and market pressures as well as class and gender constructs have always influenced aesthetic choices.

But you can set all that aside and just appreciate these exquisite shawls as masterworks of the Indian and European weaver’s and embroiderer’s art. All that’s missing is the opportunity to fondle that luxurious cashmere.

art@nowtoronto.com