Conventional silk is produced by boiling silk worms alive in their cocoons, killing some 6,000 worms to produce 1 kg of silk. Peace silk, also known as ahimsa or non-violent silk, is a sustainable & ethical approach to silk production which does not involve harming or killing the silk worm.
Once the moths have hatched the cocoon, the cocoons are collected by silk farmers, then spun & woven by hand. A cottage industry, the production of peace silk supports a wide & varied eco-system of women & men farmers, spinners, weavers, printers & dyers.
Silk spun & woven in this way retains properties lost during conventional methods of silk production. As a spun silk, peace silk is less lustrous than conventional silk, but is incredibly soft and has a rich, slubbed texture & an incredible drape. Because of the air pockets retained in the yarn, it retains warmth in winter & breathes in the heat so is comfortable to wear year round.
Ajrakh is an ancient form of hand block mordant printing & resist dyeing using exclusively natural dyes, like indigo & madder, and natural mordants. The process is extremely laborious & complex, and practiced by master artisans only in Western India & Eastern Pakistan.
Following the design of the pattern, wooden blocks are carved by hand. The cloth is then hand printed through a series of around 15 steps, dictated by the specific chemical reactions of each individual natural dye, resist & mordant.
Any variations or irregularities are to be celebrated. They are part of the design & inherent to the handcrafted production process, making this item beautifully unique.
