Cambodia Silk

There is something about the Cambodian silk that sets it apart from all other silk woven elsewhere in the world. It is the gold of the Cambodian silk that defines its beauty and nobility. The Cambodian golden silk is the epitome of Cambodian’s proud and rich culture. From ancient times and up to the present, silk, has been the fabric of choice for special occasions and celebrations.

The Cambodian silk is 100% handcrafted by artisans most of whom are women. For Cambodian, silk important only as a mean of preserving the Cambodian culture and tradition but also as source of income for poor households in remote rural areas.

The breeding starts with the mating of silkworm moths which will result in laying around 300 eggs. Eggs will be collected and incubated. The incubation period takes from 10 to 12 days after which silkworms begin to hatch. The silk worms (larvae) grow quickly while begin fed mulberry leaves over a period of about 28 days. Then, the silk worms start to spin cocoons as a protective shell before reaching a pupa stage. In 10-12 days, the silk worms inside the cocoon transform into a silkworm moth and emerge from the cocoon to repeat the same cycle again.

The general belief is that sericulture (silk farming) in Cambodia started in the 13^th century. Since then and through the centuries, sericulture thrived and could be found along the banks of the Mekong and Bassac Rivers. However, years of strife and war during the Khmer Rouge regime seriously affected Cambodia’s sericulture industry. After the fall of the Khmer Rouge, only the village in Phnom Srok district had silk farmers and weavers who produced a minimum amount of silk yarn While every effort to revive sericulture is being made in Cambodia, the majority of silk yarn is now imported from abroad.

Cambodian Golden Silk is famous for its distinctive golden color of Sericin (protein glue coating a silk fibre) which make cocoons appear gold-yellow. Golden silk yarn is naturally luminous and has irregular texture, therefore, regarded as stronger and having higher quality and softer texture than other silk yarn. The production is very organic and yarn is extracted, woven and dyed by hand, making each piece of silk products unique and precious.

Weaving skill and techniques have been passed on from mothers to daughters for centuries to keep the tradition alive. While preserving the tradition is important, it has been recognized that innovation is necessary to compete in the international market. Against this background, international trade Centre (ITC) has been supporting the Cambodian silk sector since 2005. Buildinf on the achievements of the previous projects, a new program was launched in September 2012 in the context of Enhanced integrated Framework (EIF), A multi-donor program housed at the world trade organization , which help least developed countries become.

More active players in the global trading system by helping them address supply-side constraints to trade. As part of the program, Cambodia’s silk exporters will debut at the Heimtextil Fair 2013 in Frankfurt with the support of SIPPO and ITC. ITC is the joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations, and is devoted to helping small and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries became more competitive in global markets and thus to spend up sustainable economic development and contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.