The making of a Secrets & Silk Kimono

October 23, 2020

Silk garments have been associated with wealth and high status for hundreds of years due to the complexity and cost of manufacturing them. Silk has been traded as a high-value commodity since 207 BCE, with Shanghai being one of the most prominent silk export cities.

To stay true to tradition and expertise in manufacturing, Secrets & Silk’s kimonos are manufactured in the heart of Shanghai, where skilled dressmakers spend approximately a week sewing each silk kimono together.

The manufacturing process for silk starts with cocoons spun by silkworms. The silk in the cocoons is spun by a single long thread of silk 1/100th the thickness of a human hair. To create a thicker silk thread for weaving, 30-50 cocoons are unraveled by their single thread and combined. The silk thread is then washed, dyed, and dried, ready for weaving.

A Secrets & Silk kimono is a timeless piece, for the bold and modern woman.

All Secrets & Silk’s kimonos feature a Double Georgette Satin weave. This is a complex weave where the resulting finish has a lustrous sheen on both sides of the fabric (unlike plain satin which is dull on one side), making the garment feel as good as it looks.

The silk has a weight in 22 momme. Momme is a unit traditionally used to measure the weight of silk fabrics, where 1 momme = 4.34 grams per square meter. The ideal momme of silk depends on its application. For loungewear, our designer believes 22mm gives the optimum weight for a nice and heavy drape and adds to its durability.

After weaving, the silk fabric is passed through a large-scale printer, where our intricate artwork is applied. The fabric is then heat treated to seal in the colors and allow the fabric to naturally shrink.

Silk is extremely difficult to sew properly, so this is done by an experienced team of dressmakers that take pride and care in creating each silk kimono robe. All our kimono robes feature fine piping detail, French seams and different interfacing levels within the sections to create a truly unique and detailed work of art.