About Our Silk
The Origin of Silk
Silk, often called the "Queen of Fibers," is a luxurious textile that comes primarily from a special kind of insect: the silkworm.
The history of silk begins in ancient China, dating back nearly 5,000 years. Legend holds that around 2700 BCE, Empress Leizu, wife of the Yellow Emperor, discovered silk. While having tea in her garden, a silkworm cocoon fell into her cup. As she reached for it, she noticed the cocoon unraveling into a single, long, shimmering thread. Inspired by this discovery, she began to study silkworms and developed the process of sericulture—the cultivation of silkworms for silk production.
The Source: The Silkworm
The most common source of silk is the domesticated silkworm, the larvae of the silk moth. Their entire life's purpose is to eat mulberry leaves and spin their cocoons.
Sericulture: The process of raising silkworms is highly delicate. The worms must be kept in clean, temperature-controlled environments and fed exclusively on fresh mulberry leaves.
Spinning the Cocoon: After several weeks of growth, the silkworm begins to spin a liquid protein from its mouth. This liquid solidifies upon contact with the air, forming a continuous silk filament. The worm then wraps itself in this thread, creating an oval-shaped cocoon.
Reeling the Silk: To obtain an uninterrupted silk filament, the cocoons are boiled in hot water to soften the sericin, a gummy protein that holds the cocoon together. Artisans then carefully unravel the single, unbroken thread from the cocoon. A single cocoon can yield a silk filament that is several hundred to a thousand meters long.
Weaving: Once the threads are reeled, multiple filaments are twisted together to create a yarn that is then used for weaving.
From a tiny silkworm cocoon to a final piece of magnificent silk fabric, the entire process is a tribute to patience, skill, and the wonders of nature. This is what makes silk so valuable and gives it its unique luster and soft feel.
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