The fabric made from this fiber has a soft feel and a bright lustrous appearance. Its fiber is derived from the silkworms of the Bombyx mori moth.Ī durable and fine textured silk fabric, Muga silk fibres are derived from the Assam silk moth. This is perhaps the most expensive pure 100% silk fabric. Its fibre is shorter than traditional silk fibres and it is lighter in weight. It has a unique knobby texture that gives it a rough surface. This type of silk contains a gummy substance called sericin which is removed by boiling the silk in a soap and water mix. And while the pure raw silk types are expensive luxury fabrics, silk-blend materials are equally beautiful but less expensive. There are two main categories of silk materials – 100% pure silk, and man-made silk blends. And in terms of its construction and strength, pure silk is only surpassed by nylon, a polymer-based synthetic fabric. Silk is one of the strongest natural and eco-friendly fibres despite its fragile appearance. The silk fibres then went through the slow manual process of producing silk yarn.

When the silk moths emerge from their cocoons, the manual harvesting of the cocoons begins followed by the unravelling of their threads (fibres). Silkworms weave threaded cocoons around themselves for the metamorphosis stage which lasts about three weeks. The process of converting silk threads into fabric follows a gradual process that starts with the growth of trees for the rearing of silkworms.

Whether this is a myth or a fact, is not certain but it is said that silk thread was discovered in ancient China by a young Chinese Empress and its weaving process was kept a guarded secret until many generations later. During the Middle Ages, travelling caravans in Asia traded extensively in silk because it was a popular fabric amongst royalty, the elite, and the wealthy and influential. Silk fabrics are regarded and coveted as luxury fabrics, even as far back as the ancient days when they were rated as the “gold standard” in the ancient trade-by-barter business.

Spider brocade texture