Silk begins with the humble silkworm, which goes through four life stages - egg, larva, pupa, and moth. They survive exclusively on mulberry leaves. Female moths lay hundreds of tiny eggs that hatch into silkworm larvae. 

Silkworm larvae gorge on mulberry leaves, increasing their body size by 10,000 times within a month. They begin spinning protective cocoons by ejecting fine silk filaments from two glands in their mouth. These filaments fuse to make the continuous silk fiber. 

The silkworms are killed by heat or steam before they emerge as moths, which preserves the silk filament integrity. The cocoons are dropped into hot water then unraveled to collect the thin silk threads, measuring over 1,000 yards long per cocoon.

The raw silk is twisted into thicker yarns with a natural golden shimmer. Silk fabric is woven using these lustrous threads in various weights, finishes, and qualities that determine the final sheet cost.