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When we started Calliope Studio, the question of which silk to use was the first question we answered, and the one we spent the most time on. The answer shaped everything that followed.
There are several types of commercial silk. Wild silk, also called Tussah, is harvested from undomesticated silkworms and has a coarser, less regular texture. Eri silk has a cottony feel quite different from conventional silk. Muga silk, native to Assam in India, has a natural golden colour and a distinctive sheen. All of these are genuine silks with their own qualities. Then there is mulberry silk, and it is in a different category entirely.
Mulberry silk is produced by the Bombyx mori silkworm, fed exclusively on the leaves of the white mulberry tree. This controlled diet produces a cocoon of extraordinary consistency. The thread is finer, more even, more lustrous and stronger than that of any other silk-producing insect. A single cocoon can yield a continuous thread of up to 1,500 metres. The fibres are triangular in cross-section, which is what creates the characteristic shimmer of 100% mulberry silk — light refracts differently off each facet, producing the specific glow that distinguishes real mulberry silk sleepwear from every imitation.
Wild and mixed silks can be beautiful in the right context, for home textiles or artisan products. But for mulberry silk pyjamas and sleepwear, where you want consistent smoothness against the skin, predictable drape and reliable temperature regulation, mulberry silk is the only choice that consistently delivers all of these.
Within mulberry silk there is a further choice: momme weight. We use 16, 19 and 22 momme across our range, chosen specifically for the Australian climate and the way Australian women sleep. Nothing below 16 momme appears in our collection. Below this threshold silk does not have the structural integrity to hold its shape or longevity through regular use and washing.
Blended silk is common in the market. The synthetic component makes the fabric cheaper to produce. But it also fundamentally changes the properties that make silk sleepwear in Australia worth wearing. Blended silk does not regulate temperature the way pure mulberry silk does. It does not have the same hypoallergenic properties. And it does not drape or feel the same way. The specific weight and movement of 100% mulberry silk pyjamas is inseparable from the purity of the fibre.
When you buy from Calliope Studio, you are buying fabric that contains no other fibre. That is not a marketing position. It is a product decision that determines everything from how the piece feels on the first night to how it wears over three years.
The pieces in our collection are made to be worn often and to last. Mulberry silk, properly cared for, improves with wear. It softens and settles into itself over time. A piece bought today should still be beautiful in five years. That is why mulberry silk is the only silk we use, and why we have never considered anything else.
Explore the Sleep and Silk collection at Calliope Studio.
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