silk news and archive

Albania's women silk makers weave big dreams for ancient trade

Albanian women have long been famed for their stylish and colourful traditional attire that some still wore until relatively recently. And few were more chic than the women of Zadrima who wore their own handmade silks and headdresses, their fine gauze blouses set off with belts and swathes of red silk. But that age-old know-how was almost lost...

Culture

Book recommendation: Cultural exchanges through textiles and clothing along the Silk Roads

The China National Silk Museum and UNESCO have together assembled a thematic collection on cultural exchanges along the silk roads with a focus on textiles and clothing. This has resulted in a joint publishing project. Feng Zhao, honorary director of the museum, and Shahbaz Khan, director of UNESCO's Beijing office, recently launched the first...

Fashion |In Pictures

Whistles collaborates with Hai for SS22

For spring/summer 2022, Whistles has collaborated with Hai, the cult handbag brand born out of silk, for a limited-edition collection. The Whistles x Hai capsule collection features 13 signature Hai styles in 100 percent silk, all reworked to echo the vibrant tones of the Whistles spring/summer 2022 colour palette. The collaboration includes...

FeaturedMember

Business

Silk: Can We Dethrone the Queen of Fibers?

Silk is often called the “Queen of Fibers” known for being soft, supple, and lustrous. However, silk suffers from issues with its environmental footprint and animal welfare. Did you know that the Higg Index rates silk as the most environmentally damaging material used by the fashion industry based on factors such as global warming and water...

BusinessPress Release

BOMBYX Announces CERES Organic Silk Certification

BOMBYX, the first organic certified Chinese silk company that uses Regenerative Agriculture Principles (October 5, 2020 New York, NY) - BOMBYX, a division of PFGHL, is proud to announce that it has completed the CERES Organic Silk Certificationat their mulberry trees and silkworm farms. Following (EC) 834/2007 organic standards, the organic...

Fashion

Greek silk road town finds itself back in fashion

Inside the machine-crammed Mouhtarides factory near the Greek-Turkish border, Ioanna Pistola deftly spins a silk thread in a loom, ignoring the deafening noise around her. "I've been working in this hall for 20 years," the middle-aged weaver shouts above the din. The dormant, isolated town of Soufli has been a key centre for Greek silk...

Fashion

Bangladesh seeks revival of silk industry

Bangladesh's silk industry is one of the oldest in the world, with farmers in the northwestern border district of Rajshahi producing some of the most sought-after silk yarns. They specialise in high-quality mulberry silk -- widely known as Bengal or Rajshahi silk -- produced by the larvae of moths fed on fresh mulberry leaves and used for...

Featured

Fashion

Sustainable Textile Innovations: Banana Fibres

As the fashion industry heads towards a future where textile resources are scarce, natural fibres such as cotton, which remains a resource-intensive material, and petroleum-based fibres like acrylic, polyester, nylon and spandex remain high in demand. But as the production of these fibres continues to do irreversible damage to the planet, more...

Fashion

World leaders to don pineapple shirts in Philippines

Star Trek suits are out and pineapple shirts are in as the Philippines seeks to keep the world's most powerful leaders off the list of global summit fashion train wrecks. Boldly ignoring the ridicule levelled at past costumes, the Philippines is continuing the spotty tradition of dressing the heads of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)...