Where did the paisley design orginate ?

Paisley is actually an ornate pattern that was commonly used for 19th-century shawls manufactured in the town of Paisley, a textile center in Scotland. The Scots stole the idea from similarly patterned cashmere shawls made in Kashmir from goat fleece (cashmere-Kashmir, get it?), which began to be imported from India around 1800. The traditional explanation for the commalike paisley motif is that it's a pine cone, but if so it's the damnedest pine cone I ever saw. Textile historian Martin Hardingham has a better idea; he says it's "more directly identifiable with the cashew fruit and seed pod which has been a symbol of fertility for thousands of years."

The pattern we call "paisley", associated with Paisley, Scotland did not actually originate in the town.
Several sources agree that the association came from shawls that were produced there, but patterned after shawls from Kashmir, India which were brought back to Britain by the East India Company in the mid 18th century.

The origin of the pattern can be traced back to the Indo-European cultures of 2,000 and more years ago.

In Britain the pattern is represented in Celtic art, which died out in Europe under the influence of the Roman Empire.

However in India the motif continued to flourish in many different art forms. (Especially shawls! )

http://www.paisley.org/paisley1/history/pattern.php