I Can’t Believe It’s Not Silk!

Icy is a 7 year old shiba inu and a friend of Katla. She cares about animals and treating them well.  Her favorite guilty pleasure is cheese.

Q: Hi Icy. Do Katla garments use fabrics that are harmful to animals?
Icy: Hi! I am glad you asked. No, Katla is committed to only offering clothing made of fabrics that do not harm animals or the environment. So, for example, my lovely white fur – and any kind of fur, for that matter — is strictly off limits!

The same goes for silk. Many of the styles you find on Katla – including our María slip dresses and Regína skirts – are designed with a fabric that is a mixture of cupro and modal, both of which are plant-based “regenerated fabrics” made from recycled cotton and other plants. Garments sewn from this cupro modal blend are silky – smooth and shiny with a high drapability – but they are not made from silk.

Q: I am glad fur is off limits, as I am sure you are. But what is the problem with silk?
Icy: Well, a lot of people do not know this but silk is made by harvesting live silk worms and boiling their cocoons! This process often harms or kills the silk worm inside. Katla does not use any fabric that harms animals, including silk worms, so silk is a no-no.

Q: Makes sense. Are silk alternatives just as beautiful?
Icy: You bet! As many of our styles demonstrate, silk alternatives provide an equally beautiful texture and smooth sheen when manufactured properly. You will love the light, shimmery feeling of this material on your body. I love it and sometimes nap in it!

Q: You had me at “nap.” Are there other silk alternatives besides cupro modal?
Icy: There are indeed. In addition to cupro modal, Katla uses a gorgeous eco-friendly viscose fabric as a silk alternative. Other beautiful cruelty-free silk alternatives include pineapple silk and lotus silk. These alternatives, like cupro modal, feel authentically silky. They are also great for wearing if you want to eat cheese.

Q: Good to know. By the way, what is your favorite kind of cheese,
if I may ask.
Icy: You may! While I pretty much like all cheeses (I am trying to move towards a plant-based diet but this is my favorite guilty pleasure), I am particularly a fan of light, mild cheeses made from goat’s milk. Give me some locally made goat cheese and a bowl of water and I am in heaven. Hopefully one day Katla will open a cheese section on the site; right now, for some reason they seem to be primarily focused on butter! :)