Last August, the Brazilian jewelry designer Silvia Furmanovich arrived in Srinagar, the summertime capital of Kashmir, the disputed region at the center of a decades-old conflict between India and Pakistan, to find that soldiers outnumbered people.
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“Everybody says, ‘Don’t go to Kashmir because it’s dangerous,’” Furmanovich tells JCK. “But I went. I was a little bit scared at the beginning at the airport because there is a lot of tension in the place, a lot of soldiers, a lot of guns. But they have a tradition of pashminas that you see in India, which are made in Kashmir. And I had the opportunity to visit many artisans that work with pashminas, which was amazing.”
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During the 15 days Furmanovich spent in Kashmir, she met with the region’s most esteemed papier-mâché artisans, whose handiwork appears in her fall 2025 collection, aptly named Kashmir. It’s an ode to the region’s natural splendor, framed by the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas, as well as the artistry practiced there for generations.
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“In Srinagar, I had the opportunity to visit a very good atelier,” Furmanovich says. “They have been there for many generations doing papier-mâché. For one part of the collection, we made earrings with a certain artist that is the best from Kashmir who painted the motifs.
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“It’s a very interesting technique,” she adds. “It’s very durable and colorful. It has a shine because they put a coating on the paper. And the paper becomes like a piece of wood because they make a dough, like a mixer to prepare the base. It’s hand-painted with gold leaf. In all of the earrings, the base is gold leaf and paint made by this artist.”
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The Kashmir collection, which includes both one-of-a-kind pieces as well as repeatable designs, is laden with colored stones, especially those mined in her native Brazil, such as aquamarine, blue topaz, and amethyst.
“I always use stones, but not necessarily very expensive stones,” Furmanovich says. “I go for the color. If I have the raw material, whatever matches better with the color, I use it.”
Part of the Kashmir collection reflects the colors, patterns, and sights Furmanovich discovered in Ladakh, a nearby region that she and her son, Andrey, reached after a terrifying daylong car journey along treacherous mountain roads.
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“We went with a driver and his brother and after 12 hours, we arrived in Ladakh,” she says. “It was like heaven because it is a very spiritual place where you have a lot of monasteries. Everything that you see, it’s inspiring and very religious, very sacred.”
In Ladakh, Furmanovich discovered the textile artist behind the brand Jigmat Couture. “He has a store where he collects antique fabrics that he makes like a patchwork, like coats and clothes, pashminas. I bought some fabrics from him. And one in particular was very interesting because it’s made in Tibet, by monks who use a loom and work with peacock feathers. I bought one meter.”
Looking back on the trip, Furmanovich waxes poetic about the once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“A source of inspiration was the lake of Srinagar, Dal Lake,” she says. “It’s beautiful because you go very early in the morning, you see bruma, or mist. It’s a very mysterious environment. You go in a boat. And a lot of people come to the boat to serve you chai tea with spices, and they put grated almonds on top. It was one of those experiences that you never forget.”
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