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I have been on a youtube binge lately and have gone down a rabbit hole of weird, strange, and luxuries fabrics, some of them cost millions of are for a single item of clothing, some just hundreds for a small scarf, some just dozens of dollars. Here is a short break down of some of these extraordinary fabrics.
Golden Orb Spider Silk- Only made in Madagascar and in tiny artisans amounts, previously in history only kings could legally wear a garment made out of spider silk but that hardly mattered as kings were the only ones who could afford it. It could take a hundred people three years just to make one item of clothing.
Lotus Silk- A hand made fiber made using a few strands of material found in the stems of lotus plants. There is no way to automate this process and it is extremely labor intensive plus all of the strands must be made within 24 hours of the lotus stem being harvested which is only possible at certain times of the year. Originally invented in Burma the process has been copied in several southeast Asian nations with Vietnam emerging as the main manufacturer by volume. A team of twenty workers may only produce twenty small scarfs per month. The result is a single scarf might cost $400.
Vicuma wool - Vicuna are relatives of the alpaca which have never been domesticated. A wild relative of the camel from South America found in the Andies Mountains it has the lightest, softest, and most thermally insulating wool of any animal on Earth. This means even a very thing and light fabric can be both warm yet breathable as well as having natural water repellent characteristics. The ancient Inca would make elaborate funnel traps which would allow them to coral, shave the fleece, and then release the wild vicuna back into the wild. The Inca believed only their emperor or high priests were worthy enough to wear a vicuna wool clothing.
Golden Orb Spider Silk- Only made in Madagascar and in tiny artisans amounts, previously in history only kings could legally wear a garment made out of spider silk but that hardly mattered as kings were the only ones who could afford it. It could take a hundred people three years just to make one item of clothing.
Lotus Silk- A hand made fiber made using a few strands of material found in the stems of lotus plants. There is no way to automate this process and it is extremely labor intensive plus all of the strands must be made within 24 hours of the lotus stem being harvested which is only possible at certain times of the year. Originally invented in Burma the process has been copied in several southeast Asian nations with Vietnam emerging as the main manufacturer by volume. A team of twenty workers may only produce twenty small scarfs per month. The result is a single scarf might cost $400.
Vicuma wool - Vicuna are relatives of the alpaca which have never been domesticated. A wild relative of the camel from South America found in the Andies Mountains it has the lightest, softest, and most thermally insulating wool of any animal on Earth. This means even a very thing and light fabric can be both warm yet breathable as well as having natural water repellent characteristics. The ancient Inca would make elaborate funnel traps which would allow them to coral, shave the fleece, and then release the wild vicuna back into the wild. The Inca believed only their emperor or high priests were worthy enough to wear a vicuna wool clothing.
