FABRIC: SILK (BOMBYX MORI)

Fabric Name:
Silk IKAT

Origin:
Bombyx mori

Who made our fabric:
Дехаи ГулЗар/GulZar Village, Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Natural history and ecology:
Silk production in Tajikistan dates back to the 5th century. Situated in a mountainous region, present-day Tajikistan is bordered by China to the east and the Indian subcontinent to the south. Its unique geographic location hosted three major Silk Road routes.

Silk production today is a small-scale production, not on an industrial scale. Mulberry trees grow throughout the region, giving farmers and families access to this important food for silk worms. They are reared, raised, and harvested by hand, creating this strong, lustrous fiber for weaving.

What makes this so special:

Ikat is a tie and dye technique that binds pre-woven fibers known as warp to create geometric patterns on the woven cloth. This technique dates back centuries in Central Asia and has a unique cultural significance through the cloth and the garments it has been made into.

Today, Nigina Ikromi of GulZar Village is working with globally-based researchers to find safer alternatives to the synthetic dyes that have been used for close to 100 years.