Swiss silk

Swiss silk? Doesnt silk has its roots in Asia?
You wonder? Me too!

I always kind of new that Switzerland and central Europe used to play a big role in the textile industry, back in the days. But never would I have thought that specifically Switzerland was famous for they silk fabrications.

Zurich for example used to be called “the silk city”.

Strange in a way if you think that silk is produced and comes from Asia.

But apparently the Swiss got super skilled in the way they spun, waved, dyed and printed the silk, and so, took over the silk industry. Or something in those lines.

Nevertheless, maybe that makes it a bit easier to identify with the place I grew up in. Another treasure you find in the desert leading you back to the country you departured from.

In a way this approach to the silk fabric, learning about its history, widens a whole new identity of the fabric. Getting to know about its past, there is a mystery and romanticism about it, while it also brings up shady and terrible aspects about production and origins.

Just think of the term “silk road”. What do you associate with it?

A road, crossing countries, mountains, unknown lands, risk, adventure… all that for a piece of cloth as light as the wind.

There are also many books, portraying the adventures, tragic stories and travels into the undiscovered. Expanding, a wide horizon of stories, associations, images and dreams fulfilled and lost ones.

Back to the industry, apparently, some of those silk-empires, made some sort of color and fabric pattern books.

For documenting purposes? Inspiration?

Look at the brightness and shininess of the colors.

And the names.

I would just pick a color because of its romantic name.

Or strange....

You up for some patriarch purple?

Then there are the pattern books.

They are super thick and heavy, I guess you can tell.

And full of every pattern you ever imagined, even in your wildest dreams.
Not even talking about the various silk-waving techniques, they contain.

If I wasn’t clear enough about it, all those examples are made of pure silk.

Imagine a dress made of only those samples.
There would be enough in only one book for sure. But I am probably not supposed to take it apart. And the mission it would be to sew them together. Even though I would be probably crazy enough about this idea, to try.

I could also try to not stretch my imaginary patience too much and rather fantasize about designing clothes from this huge collection of fabric samples, I also had the chance to view.