East Macedonia and Thrace

The north-eastern edge of Greece, running along the Evros river to the Turkish border. PINAX comes here for one thing: silk.

Soufli, in the Evros regional unit, was a major silk centre from the late 19th to the mid-20th century. The Silk Museum of the Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Foundation (PIOP) has been open in the town since 1990, and silkworm raisers and small silk workshops still keep the trade going. Greek silk is rare in shops, and far from the island picture most people hold of Greece.

We intend to buy from one of those workshops, so that the record can name where the silk itself was produced, not only where it was sewn. Fabric weight, size and weave stay unknown until we see the stock, and we will not guess them. The scarf will carry a textile fibre label under Regulation (EU) 1007/2011.

Our Soufli silk scarf is listed as being verified. No workshop is signed yet, and the price has not been confirmed with a supplier quote. The test for telling silk from polyester satin is printed on its record: burn a loose thread away from anything flammable. Silk burns slowly, puts itself out, smells like burning hair and leaves a soft bead that crushes. Polyester melts and drips and leaves a hard black bead.