"This timeless fabric is fashioned from near-microscopic filaments secreted by a caterpillar that is no more endearing than a mole rat. After gorging itself for weeks on nothing but the leaves of the mulberry tree, the caterpillar encloses itself in what will eventually be harvested to make the “queen of fibers.” The Chinese discovered this process millennia ago, and used the resulting product as a trade item. Their trading partners wondered how they came by this luxurious material, but the Chinese kept it to themselves."