An evocation of beauty and admired across the world for its extraordinary qualities, nothing says luxury quite like a silk scarf. Our woven silk stoles are especially luxurious and unique. Unlike the delicate, feathery fabric characteristic of a silk twill scarf, our woven silk fabric has been crafted using a jacquard technique and treated to create an incredibly unique silk finish that is irresistibly soft, lustrous and warm and more akin to cashmere.
Our scarves are made from the finest of silk fibres and produced with meticulous care and skill at the hands of expert craftspeople in Como, Italy. Over decades, our manufacturers have perfected their workmanship with this precious material. Knowledge, skills and processes have been passed down through generations, promising heritage, expertise and quality in every thread. From weaving, dyeing and printing, to finishing and hemming, each step in the production process is as valued as the one that came before and handled by one manufacturer to ensure precise control over every stage of production.
Selin Tufanoglu wears Bloom Silhouette in Black & Blue.
A Delicate Process
Dyeing
Raw silk fibres are washed and dried prior to dyeing. The fibroin proteins in the silk allows dye to be easily absorbed so the colours look vibrant; perfect for Shakera’s designs and her vivid Indian-inspired colour palette. Our luxury stoles come in a combination of four staple colours; yellow, red, blue, white and black.
Our manufacturers have made significant investments to ensure that every colour of the chemical dyes throughout the supply chain process is compliant to the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) guidelines which our manufacturers are contributors to.
Spinning
Spinning has always, and continues to be, an integral part of the silk production process. It involves twisting fibres together to give them strength and prepares them for weaving. It is at this stage that the thickness of the yarn is determined. Updated industrial processes simply mimic the function of a traditional spinning wheel but are now able to spin silk threads much quicker.
Weaving
Different weaving techniques produce different finishes and textures of silk fabrics. A basic weave is created by passing horizontal (weft) threads over and under vertical (warp) threads, to create a criss-cross network of threads. Our silk stoles are crafted using a jacquard method which utilises the same technique as basic weaves but mixes the ratio of under and over threads using a pre-determined weave pattern and different coloured threads.
This method allows Shakera’s intricate floral silk scarf designs to be woven into the fabric. This differs from our printed silk and cashmere scarves where the design is printed onto fabric using traditional rotatory or table printing techniques.
Treatments & Washing
Once woven, the woven silk stoles are washed and treated in fabric softeners to create an incredibly soft, light- to medium-weight fabric that drapes beautifully. The particular finish of our woven silk scarves is uncommon to find anywhere else and limited edition runs means that our woven silk stoles are exceptionally rare.
Hemming & Embroidery
The treated fabric is hemmed along the sides and a wave of white fringing is added along the end edges using a loom. The loom holds the warp threads under tension to allow interweaving of the weft threads. Our embroidered woven silk stoles are decadently adorned with hand-embroidery for an extra touch of luxury.
To ensure that each Shaku piece is no less than exceptional, the fabric is inspected by an expert eye at each stage of production, examining each piece for minor flaws that may have occurred. Rather than wasting the beautiful fabric these imperfect pieces are given new life in the form of new luxury accessories and homewares.
Shaku scarves are timeless luxury pieces, crafted from the world’s finest silk by exquisitely talented Italian craftspeople. We believe our woven silk scarves are truly special works of art. Discover the beauty of these scarves for yourself from our woven silk collection.