SILK STORE sources 100% pure, rare, hand woven Cambodian silk. Silk Store is helping local weavers get exposure in the international market. Above all else, to help the local weavers make more sales in a trade that is slowly dying out. 

The traditional Cambodian silkworms is usually a yellow color. The yellow cocoons are considered to be a more natural kind of silk than that of the white silk, a hybrid kind of silk cocoon that does not do well in the hot temperature and heat of Cambodia. Because of this, the silk threads from the Cambodian yellow cocoons are usually more expensive than many of the imported silk threads.

A weave by hand or a weave by machine and the two fabrics will look very different when viewed closely. A silk that is hand woven on a loom, will have slight variations with a warp of the weave, whereas a fabric that is machined normally the warp or how it is woven will be almost perfect. With hand looms every piece can be different as different weavers may have different strengths when they run the yarn through the warp.

One main advantages of using hand looms is that it is not as costly to set up the loom for a new color and new fabric design. Setting up a machine to weave design can be very costly and this is also one reason why many machine suppliers may ask for a very high price for each design. The reason is they need these high minimums to justify setting up the machine loom. Normally for hand looms, they can accept much lower minimums to set up the weave on the loom. This means you can create more unique designs, colors and finished fabrics than you could do on a machine loom.

Usually, tight weaving will produce a very soft cloth that is at the same time durable and strong. Weight and thickness of the weave indicate a tightness used for say a blanket weave. Traditional and modern designed “ikat” or “hol”, which are woven from individual spools to produce intricate patters are most valuable. The hand woven touch produces the mot “high-end” textile that has a quality of “liveliness”, and complexity that compliments the luxury of silk.

Khmer Golden Silk is called “golden” because of it’s natural yellow color as it is unraveled from the native Cambodian silk cocoon. The formal name of the variety of the silk worm which produces yellow silk thread is a Multivoltine cocoon. Cambodia still only produces only 2% of the thread used by its weavers, This is now very rare to find. The Khmer names actually indicates both the type of weaving and design and the traditional use of the cloth. Hol is 100% plain colors silk patterned cloth and is used traditionally for daytime ceremonies mostly for going to a “wot” or temple.

Many weavers are now leaving the trade to go and work in the garment factories. There is a lack of capital to help produce local Cambodian silk. This lack of support from the financial sector, especially the silk industry to help weavers comes in the form of loans for the industry to develop but is not sustainable.

Some silk vendors you find in Phnom Penh will offer inferior machine factory made products that are either blended silks containing natural and synthetic fibres with silk. These are usually imported silk from Vietnam or Thailand.

You may also find several boutique shops with a superb stock of fine Cambodian silk with real silk of all grades but sky high prices.. These shops are where the wealthy Khmer's buy their silk at inflated prices for quality fitted tailoring.

There are still some local weavers that offer handmade silks that are exquisite quality at affordable prices, depending on the complexity of the weave. The individual weavers are difficult to find nowadays as it’s a dying trade and production is only just recovering as tourists begin returning to Cambodia. 

Escalating prices due to the difficult production process, lack of design and marketing skills make Cambodian silk rare and difficult to find. Silk prices have risen sharply for these fine hand woven products.

Depending on the quality and size of the hand woven silk, we can offer fair prices. Although please take note, we are foreign traders, plus shipping prices from Cambodia are not cheap. 

OUR MISSION is to simply help the local weavers make more sales. 

We are putting their rare products out into the international market. 

Also through our contacts and sources we can discover the finest silk possible to suit your needs at a reasonable price.

We only trade when a mutual  agreement is made with the local weaver or trader. Plus we will only trade if the quality is good for our service and our customers. 

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read about Silk Store. 

Have a great day and please check out what we have on offer at the moment. Inquiries are welcome. You can also find us on Ebay at our partners store, Webutrade.