This was a question that flitted through my mind, when recently contemplating the manufacturing of silk. The fact that this lustrous fabric is made from the thread of silk worms is widely known; but that the silk worms die in the process is perhaps not. I mean, I'd never really thought about it!
The domesticated mulberry silkworm, Bombyx mori, is actually a mulberry leaf munching moth, which spins silk to make a cocoon for its transformation into an adult. The process of rearing silkworms, cultivating the eggs, and harvesting the silk is called sericulture, and happens continuously to keep up with demand. After the cocoon is made, they are steamed or dipped into hot water to kill the worm and keep the threads soft. It takes a lot of silk worms to make one silk shirt - approximately 1000. Somewhat mitigating the sacrifice of the worms in the process is that being high in protein, they are commonly eaten in these silk producing countries.
This is an ancient practice that has been happening for thousands of years…there was a reason that The Silk Road became uber famous and silk is still huge business for China, India, Uzbekistan, Brazil, Japan, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.
Recently though, some organizations have called for the ban of silk production and the wearing of silk unethical.
Vegans, and maybe Buddhists would no doubt agree but others may have questions… Do silk worms even feel pain? They are invertebrates after all and the science is still undecided on that. Are they conscious? During my research, I even came across the title of a paper called ‘The search for invertebrate consciousness’ by Jonathan Birch, which caused simultaneous amusement and a certain weariness. Aside from the fact that this title could be the next big thing on a t-shirt, all the ethical dilemmas people have to face these days just eating, shopping, living is exhausting!
The problem has no doubt been exacerbated by the huge industrial scales at which things are produced in modern society, in which processes and conditions for animals and workers are quite often inhumane. So therefore, maybe the answer is actually to reduce our consumption. Buy more carefully, keep things and value them. So if we do buy a beautiful silk dress we will have it forever and maybe even hand it down as a vintage item to be treasured.
There are several lovely, pre-worn silk items for sale on the Wynsum Look store. I think that to recycle these items and continue to treasure them gives value to the life of the (few thousand) silkworms who were sacrificed in the process.
