By Celia N
Silk has been around for a long time, being first developed in ancient china. Silk soon became a sign of status and social standing, it spread throughout Asia and became a commodity that everyone wanted. When the commercial trade between different cultures and civilizations started to grow, silk was considered something prestigious right from the start.
In the heyday of the silk trade it expanded to most places on earth, it seemed that the human affection for silk is natural, its texture and looks bridged any culture and society, everyone wanted silk and regarded people that used silk as part of a social elite. By 1100 BC silk had arrived in the Middle East, Europe and Africa and the silk trade created the famous term Silk Road as its main route between cultures and continents.
Extent of Silk Roads. Image courtesy Wikimedia commons.
Many people do not know that there is another kind of silk that has not been as famous as the classic silk, this is the wild silk that is naturally lesser in production as in popularity in the world because of the simple fact that it cannot be produced in mass like the regular silk. This production of the wild silk has been also going on for centuries, in many parts of the world.
Silk is produced from silkworms, these creators have glands that produce the thread by making a liquid that is forced through an opening, the liquid hardens and produces the thread that is later possessed into silk. The reproduction of the silkworms is when the female produces a couple of hundred eggs and dies almost immediately, the male also dies soon after that. The eggs are examined to separate the diseased ones from the health ones, and the silkworms are fed enormous amount of food to make them grow and with the right food provided to increase the chances of them producing the highest kind of silk possible.
Silk was and is one of the most frequently used fabrics for the fashion industry and clothing in general, the difference in the silk quality and durability is up to the manufacturer, making the high quality ones the most famous for their outstanding products, do not be fooled by the industry that seems to be so simple, as many thing are what seems simple is very complicated, techniques and tradition are mixed in the silk trade to provide the best results and these are not easy to get.
So the next time you think of silk. try and think about where it comes from, the distances it travels and how did it originate, from what part of the globe, how many hands did it pass on the way to being the fabric of which your scarves are made and how extraordinary it is that this old trade is, to some extent, still carried out today. This is the unique story of silk.
Check out our silk scarves, square scarves and head scarves to see the range of silk we have available.
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