|
 |
 |
|||||||
|
 |
|||||||
 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
| Product Details: | Related Products: | ||||||||||||||||
It has to be said, as soon as Rose I put on these products they felt
great! The feeling against the skin is so luxurious one immediately
thinks 'this is too good to take outside!'. However, durable,
comfortable and technically efficient pieces of clothing they have
proved to be.We have worked ourselves into a good sweat with them, and the 72% silk, 13% wool and 15% cotton doesn't appear to cause any concerns as the reviewers state below, regarding skin cooling. Personally I feel very smart in them, comfortable and certainly warm. I shall be keeping mine in the pack year round and using the long sleeve version as cold weather base layer and 3 season camp wear. Please allow for the standard 5% shrinkage in the wash, so we would suggest you go for a size 'up' from your normal choice. After that no problem! As they contain 72% silk there is a fair amount of Sericin in the material which is the natural gum that binds the silkworm's cocoon together. Wearing silk is believed to be beneficial to the health of the skin, as Sericin contains many essential amino acids. Sericin gives off a certain smell too which disappears after a few washes. To me it is similar to a 'new garment' smell. To maintain thermophysiological comfort, a next-to-skin garment must provide a barrier to the loss of warm air and it must keep the skin dry. If water vapour cannot escape quickly enough through the clothing, the relative humidity at skin level will increase, making the wearer feel clammy or causing the condensation of water vapour on the skin. Silk is hygroscopic, absorbing moisture from the skin and allowing it to evaporate into the environment or to be absorbed by outer clothing layers. Silk can absorb up to one third of its own weight in moisture before it begins to feel damp. Your Silkbody will dry very quickly, on or off the body, because it is so lightweight. Silk is made of proteins, so it has thermal properties very similar to other, more common, protein fibres, such as wool. It will warm to the body’s temperature and provide a protective layer, trapping warm air like a fine second skin. Like wool, silk is exothermic, releasing energy in the form of heat when moisture is absorbed and warding off the chilling effect in a cool, wet environment. This means your Silkbody is warm when wet, too. The silk fibre is completely smooth and very fine. Its feels amazing against the skin and will never itch. Silk has a natural resistance to bacteria (doesn’t easily retain body odours), inherent flame retardence (more heat resistant than wool), resiliency (garments won’t lose their shape), and will not pill. Because Silkbody has natural breathability, you won’t overheat on a hot day or when exerting. That's our thoughts on the products, below there's the full story from Silk Body in New Zealand and some reviews. Technical Stuff Silk feels softer against the skin than other fibres because it has a very smooth surface and is extremely fine. Fineness of natural fibres is measured in micrometres, or microns (1/1000 millimetre or 1/25400 inch). Technically speaking - Diameter range (microns): cotton 16-20 wool 10-50 silk 11-12 Weight: Size Large - 160g Colour - Black The Silkbody Story A Father and Daughter Business It's rare to find a father and daughter in business together but Silkbody's David and Emily Cooper are one such father and daughter business partnership. David says Silkbody is a result of his interest in his daughter's passion, textiles and design. “Emily has always been fascinated by textiles and I was pleased she pursued her interest by completing a degree in Clothing and Textile Science at Otago University.” David was on a trip to Asia in the early 1990's when he discovered the brilliance of a sleeping bag liner made of silk. “Emily's work with textiles prompted me to bring several back. Everyone who tried them raved about their remarkable ability to be super lightweight but incredibly warm. Everyone also loved the way silk felt against the skin and breathed so you never got clammy.” It wasn't long before David was importing the now iconic “Silksak” sleeping bag liners for distribution to outdoor retailers in New Zealand and Australia. At the same time Emily started experimenting with silk as a textile. The secret of Emperors and Explorers “Silk is almost the forgotten natural fibre. It has properties that no manmade fibre can reproduce and I love its luxuriousness,” Emily says. “It regulates temperature like no other material and absorbs one third its own weight in water without feeling damp. Even people with the worst allergies can wear it next to the skin without fear.” “The more I discovered about silk the more I wanted to develop and design a range of silk clothing for modern living, and so Silkbody was born,” she says,” I suppose it was a natural progression for us to start a family business.” Both David and Emily feel that its time for the modern world to rediscover silk. "Silkbody is about capturing all the fantastic things about silk that have enchanted civilizations for centuries and presenting them in a way that is fresh and innovative,” Emily says. “This includes using special blends of silk with other natural fibres like fine wool to create unique garments that enhance the properties of both natural fibres.” “It's ironic,” Emily says, “synthetic fibres like polyester and polypropylene came about from a desire to imitate the precious silk fibre. “Why not use the original material, it is actually so much better!” “And our customers tell us so,” adds David. “We get comments from our customers everyday saying that once they have discovered silk they won't go back to wearing manmade fibres against their skin.” David says they have both become fascinated with the history of silk. “Silk worms were the secret of Chinese Emperors for millennia until being smuggled out to the west in the 6th Century. “Interestingly the properties of silk were also recognised by our explorers. Recently when they discovered Mallory's remains on Everest his silk vest was still intact!” “Today you can have the pleasure of wearing against your skin the secret of Emperors and Explorers alike,” he says. Family Values Both David and Emily relish the opportunity to be in business together and say that their family values extend to the values of Silkbody as a company. “We pride ourselves on ethical business practices,” says Emily. “We run a re-use and recycle program for our packaging that means the boxes are used over and over to minimise wastage. We also regularly visit the factories where Silkbody is made to check on quality and ensure we have direct contact with the manufacturing process and the people doing the sewing.” David says because they're a family business they pay special attention to the details. “Emily personally designs our range and we pay particular attention to choosing styles and colours that are very wearable, in all sorts of settings. Whether the temperature is -10°c or 35°c, whether it's under your suit, to your mother's birthday, or skiing in the mountains, Silkbody has the versatility to do it all. More than just an undergarment David says because they are in close contact with their customers, this provides insights that helps drive product development. “For example we have found that what we designed and marketed as a first-layer meant to be worn against the skin, was actually being used as an only-layer by our customers. Customers even started wearing two layers of Silkbody, one as underwear and the other as outer wear. “Our customers recognise the high quality of workmanship, design and material and want to wear it as outerwear,” he says. Emily says that wearing Silkbody on the outside has even gone further, to their surprise it now has street cred. “This was the inspiration behind Silkbody's new range of 100% pure silk fleece, Cocoon, to be released in November”. “Our new range furthers our desire to bring to life the logic of wearing silk everyday, in all situations,” she says. “Besides”, adds David, “life's too short to wear clothes that don't make you feel good.” Reviews "I wore a crew neck t-shirt in a variety of conditions, climbing and tramping, and so far have been very impressed with the performance of the fabric. I was initially sceptical of the fact that the fabric contained cotton (blend is 72% silk, 15% cotton and 13% wool) as cotton tends to absorb and retain, rather than wick and disperse, moisture. But in use the silk, cotton and wool seem to complement each other through a combination of their individual characteristics: silk providing breathability, high moisture absorbency and low odour retention with high comfort, while cotton adds a bit of bulk, durability and comfort to the fibre. Wool's benefits as a functional fibre are well known, as along with producing 'heat of sorption' (wool, like silk is exothermic and releases energy as heat while absorbing water), it also insulates well and is durable. From my perception the Silkbody fabric works as well when damp or wet as any other 'thermal' fabric I have used. Theoretically it should be slower drying than hydrophobic synthetics such as polyester and polypropelene, but in actual use I noticed no difference in my own warmth and comfort when wearing it wet-—perhaps due to its exothermic properties. It's in all-round use Silkbody really shines. It's very comfortable on and feels great against the skin. Being much less abrasive than most synthetic thermals (particularly polypropelene) it does not irritate the skin where pack straps and harness might rub. It's wide ranging (temperature-wise) in its comfort too, I didn't feel so liable to overheat in it when exerting hard. Mine's been through the wash a few times now and still looks new. The cut of the shirt is excellent and it is solidly made. " Mark Watson, Editor, Climber Magazine "Riding up the Kakanui Ranges from the top of the Dansey’s Pass on a warm sunny day. A bit too warm for the activity. But in saying that the Silkbody washed very well afterwards when chucked in with the rest of my training clothes so it passed test number one with flying colours. Now that the autumn has rolled around and the evenings are cooler I have been training extensively with it. When comparing it to the Icebreaker skin layer I have found it just as warm and it tends to hold less moisture. It has washed and worn a million times and is still going strong. From the female point of view everybody asks what the top is that I’m wearing and can’t believe it’s a thermal. As a skin layer I love it. The top has retained its shape and colour and seems to get better with every wear in that it has softened up and fits like a glove. Thanks for the opportunity to try this stuff, it has gone a long way and shows every sign that it will go twice as far again." Anneliese Carlson, Multisport Athlete, Queenstown
|
|
|
