Origin and Philosophy
The Lady
Joséphine de Beauharnais, the first fashion icon of the post-renaissance age and the Empress of France. Her story of resilience and her unconditional love for the crafts which saw the Kashmir shawl travel beyond the shores of India to the western world.
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The lady who fell in love with the finest fabric known to humankind, collected over 400 masterpieces over her lifetime and made the Kashmir shawl the most sought after textile among the royalty and aristocracy in the west from Loire valley in France to the Urals mountains in Russia.
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So, in 2015 when we started, we named ourselves Jos-et-fine (French pronunciation: Jos-e-pheene) (English translation: Jos and fine) as a tribute to the lady who strongly inspired us.
Our founders
Two individuals with a solid background in the luxury textiles industry were looking for a new challenge when they first discussed the idea of Jos&fine in 2014 at the Herengracht in Amsterdam.
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To revive & re-organise the oldest shawl crafting industry of the world, led the French lady moving back to France, the center-stage for global fashion and the Kashmiri gentleman back to his native Himalayan valley. The rest is history.......
Safia Igranaissi
Born and raised in France, Safia has worked over the years in marketing luxury textiles. A Masters from the Ecole Superior de Pau, she has a passion for handcrafted luxury goods. Her French "attention to detail" sets the standard for quality at Jos&fine. She is the link between the workshops in the east and the clients in the west.
Aaditya Kitroo
Born in the valley of Kashmir and raised in the plains of mainland India, he is a technical guru on Cashmere and its artisanal processing. An MBA from Europe's Rotterdam School of Management, he hunts for the rarest Cashmere strains during the summer and the rest of the year at workshops across Kashmir.
