The making of silk fabrics is said by the Chinese to date back to the third millennium B.C. This lustrous natural fibre is traditionally obtained from the cocoon spun by the larva of the Chinese silkworm moth Bombyx mori.

Chinese legend tells the story of how silk was discovered by Xiling Shi, an empress, who plucked a cocoon from a mulberry tree in her garden. This cocoon accidentally fell into her cup of tea and she watched as a strong thread unraveled. The Chinese however, kept the silk production a closely guarded secret for many centuries and developed a silk industry along the trade route known as the Silk Road.

Sericulture the name given to the art of producing silk yarn and cloth, is a fascinating process. The life cycle of the silk worm has four stages. First the egg, then the silk worm, then the pupa and finally the silk moth.

The silk worm feeds on mulberry leaves and forms it's silk cocoon by secreting two fine streams of liquid from it's silk glands. This liquid hardens into a thread as it comes into contact with the air as the larva moves it's head in a figure of eight pattern. The worm spins it's cocoon from a single continuous thread which, when unraveled would be over a mile in length.

It is at this stage that the silk process passes into human hands. The cocoons are boiled to release the sticky substance called sericin. One single thread would be too fine to spin and so several threads are wound together to produce the delicate but deceptively strong fibre from which silk cloth is woven.

The resulting silk fabric has a beautiful natural lustre and will dye easily. It is strong but lightweight and can absorb up to 30% of it's own weight in water without feeling wet to the touch. It is a warm fabric and for these reasons is an ideal fabric for undergarments.