Weaving Sea Silk

Chiara Vigo still works the byssus in Sant’Antioco, Sardinia, carrying on an ancient tradition that dates back to the era of the Phoenicians.

The byssus is a fine fabric produced from the filaments of the noble pen shell, or pinna nobilis, an endangered fan-shaped species of mollusc, native of the Mediterranean Sea bed. Originally, the pen shell used to be fished in order to pull the byssus out, but Chiara has come up with a special cut so that she can take the secreted material without killing the precious animal.



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Thanks Bruce!