golden orb spider silk cape by godley & peers

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Jan 25, 2012

first image
'golden spider silk cape' by nicholas godley and simon peers
© V&A images
all images courtesy of the victoria & albert museum

the victoria & albert museum (V&A) in london presents a showcase of the world's largest piece of cloth made from spider silk.
created by godley & peers (simon peers, textile artist and nicholas godley, entrepreneur) the golden cape took eight years to develop,
using the silk of more than one million female golden orb-weaver spiders that were collected in the highlands of madagascar.
each morning the spiders were removed from their webs, whereby the threads they produced were then extracted by hand.
once this 20 minute process was complete, the eight-legged creatures were then returned to nature. approximately 1.5 kg
of the resulting silk was used to produce the work.

the vibrancy of the garment is natural, and has not been modified or dealt with by godley and peers -
the arachnids' threads are naturally of this golden intensity. hand-woven on looms, the resulting brocade cape is embellished
with floral and spider details. the 'golden spider silk' cape is on show at the V&A until june 5th, 2012.

detail
simon peers and nicholas godley at peers workshop antananarivo, madagascar
© V&A images

fabric with spider and floral details
© V&A images

modelling the cape
© V&A images

the golden orb spider
image © john brown

golden orb spider weaver
image © john brown

spider silk being woven
image © john brown

golden spider silk hand-woven brocaded textile
image courtesy simon peers and nicholas godley

the alpaida latro spider held in place for silk extraction
raimondo maria de termeyer, opuscoli scientifici d’entomologia di fiscia e d’agricoltura dell’abate, milan, vol.1, plate vi. 1807
simon peers collection

andrea db

01.25.12

silk (9 articles)

wow…………………………………………………………………..

DBSN says:

Jan 26, 2012

Reply
After reading the article, I’m getting the idea that this project has no intention of benefiting or helping to protect the rainforest in Madagascar where the fiber was produced Please tell me I’m wrong. This is a big opportunity for a fundraiser to decrease habitat destruction, or a call for policy changes… anything! I hope I’m wrong, otherise…. what a waste.

Theresa SF says:

Jan 27, 2012

Reply
Happy to see people employed, being creative, making beautiful things, using natural resources to benefit mankind, and making some loot to boot.

MLFreitas, Northern CA USA says:

Jan 27, 2012

Reply

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