The resuscitation of Khmer silk

After years of painstaking research, silk which once adorned Cambodia is now back. Khmer Times went unearthing the whole process by talking to key persons involved who have restored the lost glory of the Kingdom

After decades of research, Cambodia has started producing its first pure Khmer silk yarn in a bid to push back the import by supplying silk products made from the newly- and locally-developed raw material to both domestic and overseas markets, according to a prominent economist.

Silk yarn is reeled from cocoons that are developed by silkworms raised with mulberry at farms to be woven to produce silk products such as shirts, neckties, bags, scarves, pillow covers, souvenirs and decorative materials that would be available in some shops under renovation that showcases the purity of Khmer silk yarn, national identity and civilisation in those products, according to the prominent economist.

Mey Kalyan, senior advisor of the Supreme National Economic Council (SNEC), told Khmer Times that the year 2022 is the re-birth year of pure Khmer silk yarn like the early stage of the prosperity of the Roman Empire in the 15th or 16th century as this nationally identical raw material of cloth has been disappeared most likely for many decades, which has opened an opportunity for the imported to dominate the market, especially in the supply side.

read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501165438/the-resuscitation-of-khmer-silk/