We used to work exclusively with vegan materials, more precisely, with 100% cotton fabrics.
That hasn't been the case for several years now. Since 2018, we have also been using silk - so-called Peace Silk.
We would like to explain to you here why this is so, what thoughts we had about it, and what convinced us to take this step.
It is best to first look at the exact definition of the term "vegan." If you look it up in the Duden dictionary, it says: the complete renunciation of animal products

The Vegetarian Association doesn't quite think that's enough and adds:
Vegan products are those that are not of animal origin and in whose production and processing stages no
– ingredients (including additives, carriers, flavorings, and enzymes) or
– processing aids or
– non-food additives, which are used in the same way and for the same purpose as processing aids, that are of animal origin have been added or used in processed or unprocessed form.

When talking to people who value a vegan diet or even a completely vegan lifestyle, they usually explain their decision with the suffering of animals caused by the cruelties of factory farming and its devastating effects on our environment.
We at Jyotis can absolutely subscribe to this reasoning, and it is precisely this that has led us in the past to steer clear of animal materials... until we met Ritu.

Ritu, who actually lives in Assam (you have certainly heard of this beautiful state in northeast India in connection with its delicious tea), practically ran into our founder Jeanine's arms about a year ago. Enthusiastic about the craftsmanship of the silk weavers in his home country and on a business trip in Germany for his employer, he spontaneously approached Jeanine in a store for eco-social fashion (the great Supermarché – without wanting to advertise too much here 😉 and asked if she might have an idea of who in Germany might be interested in the silk from his village.
Immediately curious, Jeanine invited him to our small office in Berlin, and just a few months later, our fabric expert Caro was already on her way to Assam. She was immediately thrilled. Not only by the beautiful silk fabrics, all hand-woven and dyed with natural dyes, but especially by the non-violent technique of their extraction.

In contrast to conventional silk production, in which the pupated larvae and their cocoons are thrown into boiling water and killed, the animals leave their cocoons naturally as butterflies before they are processed into silk. In the villages around Guwahati, non-violent silk production has a long tradition; many of the people who live there produce silk fabric on the side and in small quantities for their own needs. The rubber is removed from the abandoned cocoons in natural lye made from the wood of the banana tree and then spun by hand into silk thread. The finished yarn is dyed with natural materials, such as leaves from the Mehndi bush, pomegranate or turmeric, and then woven into meter-long lengths of fabric on a hand loom, which almost everyone in the village has at home. The exclusively manual process, as well as the special type of silk “Eri” and the fact that the butterfly bites its way out of its cocoon, thus “destroying” it according to conventional understanding, are responsible for the unique, atypical structure of the fabrics.

We were convinced by this approach, even if it means that our fabrics are no longer exclusively vegan. We believe that a technology that enables the production of beautiful silk fabrics without harming any animals deserves our support. Perhaps this will encourage conventional silk producers to try the non-violent approach.
We are delighted to be able to present you our first pieces made from this wonderful silk and are very excited to hear what you think about this topic.
Oh and before we forget – you can find out more about our decision to now work with sheep’s wool and especially about its origins in our next blog post.
Your Jyotis.