October 1, 2025, 9:18 am | Read time: 4 minutes
Silk is one of the most luxurious materials we can wear. It clings to the body, shimmers beautifully, and feels light. However, the pleasant feeling quickly gives a sour taste when you consider how silk is produced. PETBOOK reveals how it works, the problems involved, and which fabrics you can use to replace silk in the future.
An elegant dress in shimmering silk—sounds perfect for the evening, right? And indeed, silk not only looks beautiful but also feels very luxurious to wear. However, this is only until you realize how the exquisite piece was made. According to the animal rights organization PETA, 6,600 animals must die for just one kilogram of silk. Specifically, silkworms. Silk is obtained from the fiber that the caterpillars use to build their cocoons. They pupate inside until they become butterflies and emerge—if allowed.
Animals Are Killed With Hot Water for Silk
For silk production, the still-pupating caterpillars are “harvested” and boiled alive or scalded with hot steam. According to Peta, you can watch the pupae frantically crawl around in their cocoons in a death struggle before they die. However, since they cannot make sounds like a cat or a dog might, the suffering of the silkworms is often overlooked. Only a few are kept alive to continue breeding and secure the next batch of silk raw material.
How to Identify Sustainable Clothing Without Animal Cruelty
Animal Welfare and Sustainability–What to Consider When Buying Alpaca Wool
Even “Peace Silk” Is Not an Alternative to Silk
For one gram of silk, about 15 animals are killed. This amounts to more than 1.6 billion caterpillars dying each year to be processed by human hands into silk products like clothes or carpets. Furthermore, the non-profit organization Human Rights Watch has published reports stating that children are employed as workers in the silk industry. Some of them are just five years old.
According to the organization, their tasks include handling the cocoons in vats of boiling water with their hands. Even the so-called “Peace Silk” or “Ahimsa Silk” is not an alternative. The idea is that the cocoons are only processed after the animals have naturally emerged. However, there is no authority to monitor this, so conventional silk can also be sold as “Peace Silk.”
There Are Alternatives—Natural and Cruelty-Free
If you still don’t want to miss out on the glamorous feel, there are alternatives to silk made from natural fibers and without animal suffering. These include rayon. The artificial silk is made from chemical fibers based on cellulose and is also known as viscose.
There are various versions of the silk alternative. One of them is cupro. The slightly shimmering fabric drapes softly and is therefore often used for blouses. It is made from cellulose combined with copper and ammonia, making it a natural fabric that has been chemically processed.
Lyocell, better known as Tencel, is also a good alternative to traditional silk. The textiles made from it feel smooth and soft and adapt to weather conditions. When we’re cold, they keep us warm. When it’s hot, they cool us. Lyocell is also more practical to care for than real silk. Clothes made from Tencel don’t need dry cleaning; they can be machine-washed and hardly wrinkle.
Another alternative to silk is pieces made from orange fiber. What initially sounds surprising is one of the most sustainable solutions. Waste products from the juice industry are used for this. While the oranges are juiced and sold as juice, the orange peels and especially the pressed pulp are considered waste. Instead of discarding it, the cellulose is extracted and spun into fibers. Some major fashion houses are already working with the fruit product, offering an alternative to silk that is free from animal suffering.