If you’re looking for a luxurious fabric to add to your wardrobe, you may want to consider silk. This type of fabric is known for its softness and drape, as well as its ability to withstand wear and tear. But before you run out and buy a silk garment, there are a few things you should know about this versatile fabric.
Although cotton is the fabric most commonly used in clothing, silk fabric is a very popular choice for a variety of garments. Despite its delicate appearance, this natural fabric is quite strong and durable. Silk also has unique properties that make it a desirable choice for fashion designers and consumers alike. Let’s take a closer look at silk and find out why it’s such a popular choice among fashion designers and consumers alike.
What do you need to know about silk and how is it used
What is Silk?
When most people think of silk, they imagine high-end fashion items such as dresses, shirts, and blouses. But what is silk, exactly? And where does it come from? Silk is a natural protein fiber that is made from the cocoons of silkworms. The worms spin the fibers to make their cocoons, and these are then boiled or steamed to kill the worms and dissolve the glue that binds the fibers together. After this process, the fibers are ready to be turned into thread or yarn.
Silk has been used for centuries for clothing, bedding and other textiles because of its luxurious feel and beautiful drape. It can be produced in a variety of colors and thicknesses, making it a versatile fabric choice for many different garments.
Different Types of Silk
Mulberry Silk
Mulberry Silk is the world’s favourite silk and accounts for around 90% of silk produced globally. It is so popular because it is thought to be the highest quality silk and is produced by the mulberry Bombyx mori moth. Although Mulberry Silk is the most highly regarded, you can even find different qualities of Mulberry Silk. The good news for those interested in buying products made with Mulberry Silk is that it’s easy to sort the wheat from the chaff by taking note of the ‘momme’ of the silk.
Spider Silk
It’s fairly common knowledge that many species of spider produce silk in order to spin their webs and wrap up their prey. As well as being a very practical material for the spiders’ themselves, the properties of Spider Silk could actually be very useful for us humans too. For example, Spider Silk is so strong that its tensile strength is actually comparable to high-grade alloy steel, and it is about half the strength of kevlar (which is often used to produce bulletproof vests because of its strength!). Better still, it is also 1/6th of the weight of steel, so it’s easy to see why this silk is of interest to researchers around the world.
So why isn’t this silk used more widely? At the moment, the simple reason is that it is difficult to extract and process substantial amounts of Spider Silk.
Sea Silk
Sea Silk is an extremely fine, rare and therefore expensive type of silk. The history of most silks stems from the east, in countries such as China, India, Thailand and Bangladesh. However Sea Silk was first produced in the Mediterranean region. Of course being named ‘Sea Silk’, it is not produced by land species such as spiders and worms, it is produced by a specific type of ‘bivalve’ mollusc, known as the ‘Pinna nobilis’.
Unfortunately, this specific type of mollusc that produces Sea Silk has been threatened with extinction and it is only still harvested and manufactured by a handful of people in Sardinia.
Other types of silk include:
- Tussah Silk
- Eri Silk
- Muga Silk (An Assam Silk)
- Art Silk (Bamboo Silk)
- Golden silk
- Wild silk
- Peace silk
- Tasar silk
- Raw silk
Why the Fashion designers prefer Silk for Luxury pieces?
You might notice that many designers in the fashion and design industry, have certain pieces of their luxury pieces made with silk, and with a higher price. The silk industry is highly appreciated and the pure silk pieces gain valour. Silk garments made with silk fibres are more durable, because silk is one of the strongest natural fibers.
Brands such as Silk Maison, a company dedicated to work with high couture silk garment such as dresses, skirts, tops and jackets, as well as night and sleep garments. The high quality of the silk fibre in their mulberry silk products is one in the market. Plus, they are body friendly, meaning their silk garments fit all types of bodies.
Conclusion
Silk is a luxurious fabric that has been used for centuries in fashion. There are many different types of silk, each with its own unique properties. The most common type of silk is made from the cocoons of silkworms. Silk garments are often quite expensive, but they can last for many years if properly cared for. What silk items do you have in your wardrobe?
