About Our Silk
In ancient times Mulberry Silk came to be renowned amongst the nobility as a desirable luxury fabric. It was brought to them by merchants trading its precious cloth and garments made from it throughout Asia, Egypt, the Middle East, and Europe. Today, our Mulberry Silk Baselayer and accessories enable you to enjoy the same luxurious comfort they once exclusively enjoyed.
Serigena™ Silk Base Layer Garments and Accessories are made with fabrics utilizing a premium high grade 100% natural Mulberry Silk known for its long Silk fibers, its luxurious feel, exceptional softness, luminous sheen, and a close to pearl white color in its natural, undyed state. The Silk yarn used in our fabric is known for its smooth texture, breathability, lustrous appearance, and strength. This inherent strength helps garments retain their shape over time – and while we are discussing strength we should mention Silk is renowned for being a robust and durable fabric, with a very high fiber strength. The fibroin fibers in natural Silk found in the wild have been found to have greater toughness and extensibility than synthetic polymers such as Kevlar and elastin.
These Silk fibers are knitted into the interlock fabric that we use in the Serigena™ Silk Base Layer Garments. Interlock is a weft knit known for its significant stretch in the width direction, which makes it very flexible and comfortable to wear. Its flowing drape hangs gracefully, with aesthetic, and it moves naturally with the body. Weft knits have open spaces between the yarn loops, which allow air to circulate freely through the fabric. Interlock Silk fabric is thicker and heavier than its weft knit stablemate single jersey, providing superior insulation and durability. Interlock also has more stretch and better recovery than single jersey, and a more refined look. Silk interlock fabric’s fine honeycomb like pattern created by using two rows of needles to produce interlocking loops, forming a “double knit” (two pieces of jersey back-to-back) that has a smooth, identical surface on both sides, offering superior stability, substantial horizontal stretch, and excellent stretch recovery. This excellent stretch characteristic enables it to move with you, making it very comfortable to wear all day long in a wide range of activities. It is extremely smooth, soft, and stable, with a subtle sheen, inside and out. It resists wrinkling and maintains its shape well after washing. It is a versatile material, favored for high-end, comfortable clothing, and perfect for next to skin baselayer.
The exceptional softness, and luxurious feel, and comfort of Silk can be attributed to some of its unique properties. Silk has the remarkable quality of similarity of its protein profile with human skin, with its repetitive sequences of amino acids resembling that of human skin. The thread fibers of Silk are incredibly strong, consisting of filaments with a rounded shape, resulting in very smooth fibers that do not cause scratching, friction, or irritate the skin. Silk additionally helps maintain the optimum humidity of the body by minimizing both the circulation of perspiration, and moisture loss. These features make Silk the perfect match for next to skin comfort and good health.
Consider, also the wonderful unique properties of Silk that make Serigena™ Silk Base Layer Garments ideal for bulk-less multi-season wear. Weight for weight, Silk is said to be a more effective thermal insulator than any other natural or synthetic fibre, making it the ideal next to skin layer in a range of temperatures, and activities. It’s combination of low air permeability and high water vapor permeability increases wearer comfort considerably in cold and windy conditions. Silk fabrics are renowned for their warmth in the cold, and comfort in the warmth. Its insulating properties can help trap warmth close to the skin when its cold, and also mediate the temperature close to the skin when the sun comes out and ambient temperatures warm. Silk fabric can hold between 10% and 30% percent of its own weight in moisture without feeling damp, enabling it to be drawn away from the skin for evaporation. This absorptive and evaporative capability makes it comfortable even when you or the temperatures warm.
Silk has the ability to maintain good comfort with large changes in temperature that can occur in spring, autumn, and cool start summer days. Silk’s high thermal absorbency, wickability, moisture absorbency, very good water vapour permeability, along with next to skin comfort, make it the ideal natural fiber option equally for active pursuits, energetic days, and your most relaxing days.
Silk is natural, sustainable & environmentally friendly. Its fiber is naturally degradable over time when disposed of.