c. 2700 BCE lore
Leizu legend
Chinese origin stories pin sericulture to the Yellow River world.
Silk did not arrive as a finished commodity. China Neolithic / Silk Road around China still explains who makes it and which tests it sits in.
Ten dated points, five eras and three milestones below are the spine — not a complete industrial history.
Where it began
China Neolithic / Silk RoadChina
Timeline
c. 2700 BCE loreLeizu legend
Chinese origin stories pin sericulture to the Yellow River world.
Han dynastySilk Road
Filament cloth became a geopolitical cargo.
6th c. CEByzantine smuggling lore
Monks and eggs — the European industry myth.
13th c.Italian silk
Lucca, Florence, later Lyon.
19th c.Pébrine / Pasteur
Disease nearly wrecked French sericulture; microscopy saved stock.
1891Lyon silk crisis
Fashion and Asian supply shocks.
1930sNylon threat
DuPont’s filament targeted silk stockings.
WWIIParachute silk
Then nylon took the sky.
1990s–Suture & biomaterials
Fibroin scaffolds entered labs.
2010sSpider-silk startups
Recombinant proteins still chasing Bombyx economics.
The eras
6th c. CE
Byzantine smuggling lore
Monks and eggs — the European industry myth.
19th c.
Pébrine / Pasteur
Disease nearly wrecked French sericulture; microscopy saved stock.
1930s
Nylon threat
DuPont’s filament targeted silk stockings.
1990s–
Suture & biomaterials
Fibroin scaffolds entered labs.
Milestones
Italian silk
13th c.Lucca, Florence, later Lyon.
Nylon threat
1930sDuPont’s filament targeted silk stockings.
Spider-silk startups
2010sRecombinant proteins still chasing Bombyx economics.
Knowing this timeline is how to read a mill certificate without treating Silk as timeless.
Keep exploring
More in Textiles
🌱
Cotton
Seed-hair cellulose that dressed the industrial revolution — still the comfort fibre of daily wear.
Overall 44 🐑Wool
Crimped keratin that traps still air — suiting, carpets and a quietly decent fire story among apparel fibres.
Overall 53 🎽Polyester
The dominant apparel polymer — bottle-grade PET spun into staple that dries fast and sheds microfibres.
Overall 49 🪢Nylon
Carothers’ polyamide — stockings, tyre cord, climbing rope and a melt-drip fire personality.
Overall 48 🦺Aramid
Aromatic polyamide pulps and filaments — ballistic packs, hot-gas filtration and asbestos replacement.
Overall 62