The Potential Of Silk

In 1946, while assessing the future for silk consumption,American economic policy makers decided that among their then allies, “china” will be hard pressed to find sufficient exports to pay for her gigantic import needs-particularly capital goods-during their early years of reconstruction; silk could be an important source of of dollar exchange.” The conclusion was that it “would be better for China- and alternatively for us as well-if she would export silk to us in the form of wearing apparel and other manufactures and thereby add greatly to its dollar value.” This view not only put an end to North American silk manufacturers within a decade or so ( and to its last serriculture project, in California,immediately) but also laid the groundwork for a dramatic shift in international silk trade, apparent by 1986. In that year, for the first time in a century, world production of raw mulberry silk was dominated by China; since that date Japan and the Republic of Korea have nearly abandoned commercial production of raw silk in favor of heavy machine industries. By 2005, Chinese raw silk announced for roughly 82% of the world supply. During the same period Chinese manufacture 0f finished silk goods more than doubled; today these are exported in greater amounts than are their raw silk, silk yarns, and silk fabrics combined. Despite this the silk industry today remains global, varied and vibrant.

1990s were undoubtedly a stormy for the silk industry. The decade opened with soaring sales of sand-washed silk. This process had been developed by New York-based entrepreneurs in 1982, in an effort to provide a re-shrunk,crease-resistant ,machine washable silk. Produced mainly in China,sand-washed silk entailed a process of fibrillation or sue-ding, by washing in machines, containing and,pebbles,tennis balls-and occasionally tennis shoes. Whereas the 1980 silks had been meant largely for women and were a luxury product, these new silks with their combination of soft handle and worn-in look, suited coming vogue in the United States and some other European countries for the elegant leisure wear now associated with “casual Fridays” , as well as the more widespread return to favor of natural fibers. Then Shamash & Sons, a New York-based converter said to be the largest importer of silks into the U.S., launched its own range of washable silks for the 1988 seasons, using a process developed in Germany. Simultaneously, the perfection of sand-washing for volume productions (and thus lower price) was achieved in South Korea, facilitating a new concept of silk that encompassed both tailored garments and sportswear-and these were for men and teens, as well as in women. It was called, by one trade paper, the “not-on-quiet washed silk revolution…” To satisfy demand, raw silk production mushroomed. While it had been steadily increasing increasing throughout the 1980s, by about one-third, between 1989-1993 the world supply of raw silk doubled again, to just over 1,00,000 tonnes/tons in that year.

As production reached an historic height, China began decentralizing its method of selling raw silk. One consequence of this destabilized position was the loss of levy on all silk sold by China’s National Textile Import & Export Corporation to Europe, where these funds had financed the European Commission for the Promotion of Silk (CEPS), formed in the 1960s through the efforts of a Swiss/Italian delegation. There, Zurich’s centuries-old supremacy as the major entrepot for Asian silk skeins destined for western mills had already been declining since the end of a fixed exchange rates in 1973. China’s now more open economy also engendered a competitive market, which had global impact. Deals were struck directly between western companies, on the one hand, and,on the other, silk yarn, cloth, and garment manufacturers in India, Korea and China.

The result was to guarantee affordable price goods and clothing in exchange for enormous orders. The low price of such finished silk goods ushered in the “pluralization” of silk. At the height of the boom, in the mid – 1990s silk garments were sold not only in department stores, but through mail-orders catalogs, in supermarkets, and even, according to the International Trade Forum, in German coffee houses. However, despite their promotion as “easy care”, many such silks- and the garments of which they were part-were of low quality,easily stained, and opt to be rent at the seams. The bubble burst. Consumption of raw silk production dropped, and the price of raw silk tumbled; compare to its 1989 trading value (per kilo(2.2 pounds), raw silk could be purchased for half that price by 1998.

Concern were voiced for the future of the silk industry. Could the nobility of silk be restored? Or would the decline continue and millions of jobs be lost, together with skills that had taken millenneia to develop? This is no small matter. In China alone to employ 20 million,India 6.3 million and another 5-6 million in Brazil,North Korea,Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. Silk also contributes to the economies of Bangladesh, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Columbia, Pakistan, Indonesia and many more.

Various Government level authorities as well as persons like fashion designer,fabric manufacturer have taken the matter seriously for the sustain of its presence, as silk is the only eco-friendly fiber, and the enormous contribution it makes to innovation, whether within fiber sciences, fashion, or the textile arts.

Ranjana Banerjee

Fashion Designer from Kolkata (India), Expertise in all kind of Indian Ethnic Women Dresses....

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