V&A | golden spider silk

From the 25th of January on a new fabric exhibition will open at the V&A in London. Textile designers Simon Peers (UK) and Nicholas Godley (USA) and their team went to Madagascar, home of the golden-silk-spider. More than one million spiders were needed to weave a piece of 4 meters. This display will showcase the world’s largest pieces of cloth made from spider silk. It will include a brocaded shawl made from the silk of the female golden orb-weaver spiders collected in the highlands of Madagascar, as well as a cape on public display for the first time. The display will also feature background material and a short film revealing the process. It took four years to weave the piece, and looking at it you understand why. What a delicate fabric! The good thing about the life of the spiders is that they were released afterwards. Less sad than the life of the silk caterpillars whose lives are taken while the thread is taken from their cocoon. An amazing project! 

(photo V&A)