Silk

Welcome to the silk fiber directory section of the Apparel Search website. In this section, you will find educational information and links to resources relevant to silk fibers. If you work in the apparel industry or simply have an interest in silk textiles, this is the area for you. If you do not find enough information in this section of our silk fibers guide, you may wish to check the textile section or go back to the fiber directory main page for additional textile fiber choices.

Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, Bombyx mori is the most widely used and intensively studied silkworm.

If you work for a company that supplies silk textile products, you can use the add your company link at the bottom of this page to create a listing on the Apparel Search silk directory pages.

If you wish to read more about silk, don't forget to visit the textile news section. More specifically, view the textile fiber news and silk fiber news areas. Also, if you work in the fashion industry or textile industry, please join us at the fashion industry network for discussions about the use of silk.

Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons.

You will find that silk is very important to the fashion industry as well as the economy of many countries.

Silk Manufacturers

American Silk Mills: Among the oldest and most respected American textile brands, American Silk Mills® is known for its exceptional quality and rich heritage. The company designs, weaves and distributes unique textiles for the residential, contract, hospitality and furniture markets.

Anhui Silk (China): They are leading agriculture industrialization enterprise in Anhui Province, and have their shareholding factories in silk, cotton & wool. Anhui Silk with members of Anhui Tincai Silk Co., Ltd., Anhui Bring Import and Export Trading Co., Ltd., Siltek International Limited, is a manufacturer & exporter of various fabrics & it's make-ups.

Aurora Silk (USA): Aurora Silk was established in 1969, in Berkeley, California, by Senior Master Natural Dyer Cheryl Kolander. Starting the business in order to support her own art of weaving and natural dying, she wanted to share her love of natural fabrics, yarns and dyes with the world.

Eastern Silk Mills, Inc. (USA): Eastern Silk Mills, Inc. has been dying and printing silk fabrics in the United States since 1977.

Gunze (Japan): The Gunze Group's business mainly comprises three segments originating from silk yarn manufacturing. Gunze draws on its proprietary technologies to develop high-value-added products with advanced functionality for a wide range of fields. The company is committed to providing more and more people with a “Feeling of Comfort” through our products and services.

Sabahar (Ethiopia): Silk has played an important role in the social and religious life of Ethiopia from the earliest days of the kingdom of Axum. Imported in large quantities from India, Arabia and China, silk fabric was unraveled in order to use the silk thread for weaving. here was never any indigenous production of silk until about fifteen years ago when the Ministry of Agriculture brought silk from India and trained farmers on its cultivation. abahar weaves with eri, mulberry and tussar silk. Each variety is very unique in its aesthetic. Most of the silk produced in Ethiopia is Eri silk.

Tomioka Silk Mill (Japan): Tomioka Silk Mill is a model mechanized silk-reeling factory established by the Meiji government in 1872 (5th year of Meiji) for the modernization of Japan. After the Meiji Restoration, the government pushed forward the modernization of industry and sciences in order to put Japan in a position of equality with foreign countries. The industry in which the government put the most effort to gather the funds necessary for this task was raw silk export. The government decided to establish a national model factory equipped with Western silk-reeling machines in order to improve raw silk quality, to raise production and train technical supervisors.

Chinese Silk: China is obviously very famous for tremendous silk production. You will find plenty of factories in China that are capable of manufacturing silk and silk garments. China is the world's largest silk producer. The vast majority of Chinese silk originates from the mulberry silkworms (Bombyx mori).

India, Thailand, Japn, Italy & France are also very important to the worlds silk industry. The state of Karnataka is the largest producer of silk in India. You will find that Italian silk is fabulous for fabrics and fashion. The Como region, sat within the beauty of Italy's Lombardy, is well known for its silk. Como's lavish environment provides the ideal sericulture to worm farming and silk production.

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania once had a thriving silkworm farming industry. Lancaster County once had the largest single silk-weaving mill in the United States.

Dry cleaning is the best way to keep your silk in good condition and maintain its original beauty, luster, and texture. Dry cleaning of fine silks extends the life of the garment, and protects its natural beauty.