Silk has always been synonymous of elegance and femininity; for this reason this fabric has always been a preferred choice in the creation of a luxury fashion product. Many stylists and consumers do not want to give up this fiber, despite of it is considered not friendly to animals. Thankfully we are going through a time of mindset change in the fashion industry and other options are starting to be considered. An example of this is the choice of the stylist Tiziano Guardini, winner of Franca Sozzani Green Carpet Challege Fashion Award 2017; for one of his creations in Ahimsa silk also known as Silk of Peace. The name of this fabric comes from the Sanskrit “avoid violence”, “non-violence”.
Process for obtaining silk
To understand the difference between these two types of silk, we need to know the process that each undergoes; Ahimisa is obtained from cocoons of the Chinese caterpillar Bombyx Mori, which as an adult forms a cocoon with its own saliva where it remains for about two weeks until it becomes a moth. In other words, the cocoon is not used until the animal has left. The cocoon is destroyed, so more cocoons are needed to produce the thread. This lengthens the process and raises the price, but does not exceed the quality.
What is the difference with the traditional process? In traditional silk process, the buds are deposited in containers with special papers; after 35 days have passed since the eggs hatch, the worms begin to spin a cocoon around themselves, until they are closed, at which point most of the worms are introduced into boiling water, thus causing their death.
“I love silk but I didn’t like the idea that caterpillars had to be thrown into hot water even when they were alive to produce it.” stylist says.
Consciousnessin Green Fashion
We are facing a new generation of designers interested in involving green fabrics and processes within their collections. For this reason I wanted to talk about Tiziano Guardini; a Roman designer, who extends his commitment to sustainable fashion to the use of other materials such as denim from the ISKO brand which contains a blend of reused or recycled materials and the use of regenerated yarns, obtained from products destined to be discarded; like old carpets or fishing nets. In its knitwear ART ATLAS has the collaboration of the Peruvian company that produces its fabrics based on natural fibers such as organic cotton, alpaca, wool, silk, angora, among others.
At the moment their garments cannot be purchased on their website, but I leave their instagram here so they can keep up with their creations.
