Silk

Silk

Silk is a cherished fibre forever. It has irrefutably curated its place as the ‘Queen of Textiles’ for millennia. People adored it for its natural radiance, compatibility for dyes, lightweight, absorbing capacity, gorgeous colours, and drape-easy nature. It has been restricted to royal and noble attire for many centuries before it fell into the commoner’s hand. Yet being costly, the elegant fabric is still in vogue. Silk is a festive choice for many in India as well as abroad. Its versatility natural strength made it a very utilitarian fabric not only in the clothing, furnishing, and upholstery industry but also in medical surgeries, biotechnology. In France, silk fibre is used in tyre manufacturing, artillery gunpowder bags, and during World War II, Parachutes made of silk fibre had been used.

China invented the technique of silk-spinning and provided this fabric to the rest of the world since 3000 BC. Slowly the demand increased and the secret had been stolen. Thus, other countries like Europe, France, India, Italy, Spain, Syria, etc. started producing silk.

Approximately 40 countries throughout the world produce commercially viable silk. China is the leading producer, then comes India as the second dominant position.

There is a wonderful legend about the invention of the silk. The wife of Yellow Emperor's wife, HSI-LING-SHIH was drinking tea in the imperial garden. She had had on her lap some collected mulberry cocoon, that accidentally dropped in her cup. The pipping hot tea made some changes in the cocoon. Thus, when she brought it out, it unfurled into a long glossy filament. She derived some more with the same process. Then wove these filaments into a beautiful piece of cloth and gifted to her husband as a kerchief. The emperor was amazed by the beauty of this shimmering fabric. He came to know of this discovery and planned to domesticate the mulberry worms. For many centuries, China kept this as a secret and had a monopoly in silk export. In fact, the route between China to Rome is called ‘Silk Road’ because it primarily traded silk through this.

The cocoons, formed by the proteins secreted by the silkworms are then processed to make silk fabric. This protein filament is extracted and turned into yarn. Yarns are then woven into silk cloth. There is a division of silk. Other than mulberry silk, all the other varieties of silk are called is non-mulberry. It gets its name from the leaves of the plant; the silkworm is feeding on. They eat mulberry, castor or any other wild plant. Accordingly, we categorise them into wild or domesticated silk.

There are majorly 5 silk varieties found throughout the world. India has discretion in producing all the commercial varieties.

Muga:

Muga is a silk variety, geographically tagged to the state of Assam India. It is derived from semi-domesticated, multivoltine silkworm Antheraea assaminsis, cultured in Assam. The silkworm is feed on the aromatic leaves of Som and Soalu plants. it is found mainly on the Brahmaputra valley and surrounding neighbouring states of India as well as in some parts of Myanmar and Malaysia Muga has a naturally rich yellowish golden shimmer, that gets better with every wash. It is extremely durable - even said to have outlived the wearer. Previously worn by only the royals as it is the second costliest silk after Pashmina. It is a prized possession for the commoners till date.

Tussar:

Tussar or Kosa is purely wild silk, produced widely in the states of Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Orissa besides West Bengal, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Tussar is obtained from the silkworm Antheraea mylitta, which feed on the leaves of Arjun and Asan trees grown in the open. Tussar is a copper tinged, light weight, airy fibre that has a paperlike crisp. it is not as lustrous as mulberry silk but has its unique appeal. Apart from furnishings, it has a high demand as marriage and ceremonial apparel.

Oak Tussar:

It is another finer variety of Tussar, obtained from the silkworm Antheraea Proyeli J. feed on the Oak leaves, available in the sub-Himalayan region of India. The states like Manipur, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir produces Oak Tussar. But another major producer of Oak Tussar is China. But the Chinese variety is derived from another silkworm called Anthera pernyi.

Mulberry Silk:

In the silk industry, mulberry silk has a dominant position. It is the 'pure silk' with a huge commercial production. The silkworm that produces the fibre is called Bombyx mori L. that only feeds on the mulberry leaves. The larvas are voracious eaters whereas the adult moths rarely eat and are primarily concerned with reproduction. They are completely domesticated and never found in the wild.

The undyed mulberry silk is pearlescent white with shimmering lustre. This finest fibre of the world is very soft, strong and smooth in texture, widely used in Indian Banarasi/zari sarees, chiffon and Chinnon scarves/ stoles, organza embroidered garments.

Eri Silk :

It is very mindfully named - the Fabric of Peace. The woolly white silk is derived right after the moth leaves the cocoon. This process does not involve compromising any living insect and makes it non-violent. However, this Ahimsa -silk, the term translates as non-violent, is thus favoured by vegans and especially preferred in Buddhist culture.

'Era' or 'eranada' or 'endi' in Sanskrit means the castor plant, on which the caterpillar Samia recini feeds, in Assam. Tribals in Assam, practice Ericulture at home for its protein reach pupa, a delicacy for the locals. Consequently, the cocoons are open-mouthed and are spun.

It is a fine, dense and coarse fabric that absorbs moisture. However, it is a strong, soft but heavy fabric that drapes well.