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Material & Workmanship
At Nara, higher standards are applied in every step to ensure perfection.
Why Silk?
Silk, a natural fabric produced by silkworm, is known as queen of Porous protein fibers and the "second skin" of human body. It feels incredibly light and soft and it looks beautifully elegant and luxurious. Its excellent air permeability, hygroscopicity, and antistatic property win over a lot of people around the world for thousands of years. All Nara’s products are made by 100% silk of 19mm, which is higher than average thread count. (‘mm’ is a standard way of measuring the weight of silk. The higher the thread counts the better. )
Silk knitted products
Silk knitted product refers to the product which is made of silk by knitting. It definitely has all the property of silk, excellent air permeability, hygroscopicity and antistatic property. Besides, silk knitted product is stretchier and more comfortable.
Knitting product also has its own property.
(1) It has excellent extensibility. Knitting is to bend yarn to coil and coil into each other. When there is stretching force, the width and height of the coil can be converted. If it is longitudinal stretching force, the height increases while the width decreases; if it is latitudinal stretching force, the situation is contrary.
(2) The hole-shaped coil makes good air permeability.
(3) It mainly adopts chain stitch. Sewing technique varies according to different material and parts to ensure its smoothness and fastness.
1. We use only 19 momme premium silk; nothing else.
silkworms & Silk: Silk is a miracle created by silkworms. On different seasons, silk product has its own distinction. Silk from spring cocoons is considered the best due to its extra softness. What we choose as raw material is 100% silk crepe plain of spring silkworm, 19 momme; shell fabric of export grade A.
Care
2. Dyestuff: we use only environmentally friendly (green) dyestuff in silk apparels (clothes that touch your body). The dye that is mostly from plants and flowers shall not irritate skins, while chemical intensive stuff could cause rash, inflammation and discomfort. Photos below show some color examples of natural dyestuff.
(color from strawberries)(color from oranges)(color from blue berries)
3. Pre-wash: we pre-wash each and every piece of clothe for shrinkage, softening, and sheen before shipping. This pre-wash is a special technology unique from us. That enables our garments washable in water. With this special treatment, now you can go without dry cleaning.
4. Craftsmanship: by re-introducing the long lost sewing techniques of last generation Chinese tailors, we bring dress-making from a machine centric mass production circus back to an individual work of art. The workers who make the dresses here at Nara are middle aged women (40-50 years old) who are the last troupe of skilled hands remaining in southern part of China.They have 20 or 30 year experience in tailing silk clothing. Before entering Nara to be a labor, they were given professional training. Seamless edge as illustrated in photos here is the indisputable statement of craftsmanship. But most of all, we make each order one at a time, by one tailor.
(a skilled worker at work)(seamless edge)
5. An air-condition room: to protect and ensure silk quality.
(Nara's air-condition room)
6. Computerized production facilities.
Maintenance and care
A: Do not spill deodorant or perfume on silk, especially the white one. Camphor
ball should not be used with silk.
B: Avoid direct exposure to light, heat or moisture and keep silk products
in dark drawer or cabinet.
C: To avoid silk wearing from being torn or snagged, extra attention should
be taken when wearing watch and / or jewelries.
D: Silk clothes should always be worn a bit loosely (not skin-tight), to
avoid stretching of the fabric.
Advices on washing & ironing
In case of machine wash, use the pouch net (provided as free) to protect the silk fabric from breaking open. Nevertheless hand wash is always preferred to machine wash.
To extend the life of silk garment and to keep it natural and elegant, dry clean is
always recommended.
But washing is also a good choice if you know how to. Wash by hand at a temperature
not exceeding 30°C. Use a neutral/mild detergent and rinse it thoroughly. If washed
by machine, suggest using a net pouch to contain the clothes in first. To better
protect the fabric, hand watching is preferred to the machine wash.
It’s best to have clothes in similar colors washed together.
Do not tumble dry.
Do not bleach.
Do not wring out.
Hung dry and be dried flatly.
Dry in the shade.
Ironing temperature should not exceed 150℃ (ideally between 110-120℃). It is suggested that clothes be kept at 90% dry before ironing to produce best result.
