- Fabric: 50% wool, 50% silk
- Handfeel: Ultra soft, with a delicate, woolly texture from both the wool and spun silk
- Care: Treat with care by dry cleaning only. Natural colours may change over time. Store in a sealed plastic bag in the dark.
- Origin: Himachal Pradesh, India
Textile Story
Conventional silk is produced through boiling silk worms in their cocoons, killing some 6,000 worms to produce 1 kg (2 pounds) of silk. Peace silk, also known as non-violent silk, is a sustainable and ethical approach to silk production which does not involve harming or killing the silk worm. Though the silk worm is not killed during the production of the this natural dye eri silk, it is manually removed from the cocoon , dried and turned into a local culinary delicacy in the region where this fabric is woven in Assam. It constitutes a nutritious and important element of the local diet.
The production of eri silk is a cottage industry, which supports a wide and varied eco-system of women and men farmers, spinners, weavers and dyers. Our Peace Silk Collection brings together this diverse range of silks and artisans from India's northeastern rural villages. Cocoons are collected by silk farmers, then spun by hand, yarn-dyed using local, natural dyestuffs and hand woven - each step carried out by women. Our Ahimsa Collection includes domesticated matka mulberry and eri peace silk, wild tussar and balkal silks, as well as the waste silk generated by regular silk production, like raw silk.
Silk spun and woven in this way retains properties lost during conventional means of silk production. Peace silk is less lustrous than typical silk, but is incredibly soft and has a rich, slubbed texture and an incredible drape. It retains warmth in winter and breathes in the heat so is comfortable to wear year round. Any variations or irregularities are part of the design and inherent to the production process.
