The British were the first Europeans to develop an interest in Kashmir shawls. A young Englishwoman who had been in Bombay, India, is said to have brought one to London in 1765 (1). The East India Company started importing and selling them in the last quarter of the eighteenth century. At this time, the English fashion in women's clothing had started moving towards simpler styles often made from Eastern textiles such as Indian chintz, calico, and muslin fabrics. 

Throughout the last quarter of the eighteenth century, English styles had a significant impact on Parisian fashion, a trend dubbed "Anglomania" (2). Nevertheless, the wearing of simple muslin gowns, such as Marie-Antoinette's "chemise a la reine", was limited to a handful of highly fashionable French ladies. Not until the Revolution did the new simpler styles based on Greek and Roman clothing gain momentum. The Revolution acted as a catalyst for styles already in the pipeline which were pushed to the forefront by the impact of politics(3). 

Officers returning from Napoleon's 1799 Egyptian campaign brought Kashmir shawls as gifts, which helped to spread the fashion and fascination for them. As neo-classical styles were adopted in France and spread like wildfire around Europe and America, demand for Kashmir shawls exceeded the supply, driving up the prices of an item already exorbitantly costly. This fashion for simple cotton dresses and Indian shawls was extremely detrimental to the French economy. In an effort to remedy the situation, Napoleon banned their importation and ordered that copies of shawls be produced in France. However, his role as fashion dictator was undermined by his wife, Josephine, who continued to have her own shawls smuggled in without his knowledge! An inventory of her wardrobe in 1809 included 666 winter dresses, 230 summer dresses, and 60 cashmere shawls, some of which had cost as much as 8,000 to 12,000 francs, an outrageous price in those days (4). 

__________________
(1) Phyllis Tortora and Keith Eubank, Survey of Historic Costume (New York: Fairchild Publications, 1994), 254. 
(2) Ibid, 226. 
(3) Ibid, 265. 
(4) Ibid, 19.