Far from fashion’s flashbulbs, in Umden-Diwon village of Ri-Bhoi district, a quiet revolution is being woven—one cocoon at a time. This serene pocket of Meghalaya is India’s first certified Eri Silk Village, home to a fabric so rare it carries its own GI-tag: Ryndia Silk. Across the border in Assam, it’s known as Eri or Ahimsa Silk (again GI-tagged), traditionally spun into the timeless mekhala sador. Different names, same soul—and one extraordinary truth: this is the world’s only truly vegan silk.
Unlike conventional silks that require boiling the silkworm, eri cocoons are harvested only after the moth naturally emerges. The eri silk moth is fed on castor leaves, the cocoon is then degummed, hand-cleaned, and spun into a yarn prized for its soft matte glow, breathability, and astonishing durability. Depending on how it’s spun—by hand or machine—eri currently retails between Rs 2,300 and Rs 4,000 per kg. Luxury, yes. But of the quietest, kindest kind.
Once used mainly for shawls, stoles and saris, eri is now finding an elegant second life in home décor—from tactile cushion covers and throws to rare textile wall art. Its supply remains beautifully unorganised, but designers are discovering endless ways to let it shine.
Leading the movement is TATI Assam, founded by 30-year-old designer Silpita Gogoi, an alumna of NIFT Mumbai. After returning home during the pandemic, she began working with the Mishing community on a near-forgotten loom called mati haal, older than the traditional taat. Her hand-embroidered eri silk cushion covers—teak-dyed, undyed, and rich in Assamese motifs—turn living rooms into heirloom spaces.
Globally, eri’s reach is quietly expanding. UK-based Ellie Home retails vegan silk pillowcases and throws sourced from We Are Kal—with pillowcases starting at `7,100 and hand-spun throws priced around `24,000. In the Northeast, designers Pinashi D Khataniar and Aneesha Hussain of Green Steps are using azo-free dyes and hand-block printing to craft cushion covers and curtains that now travel from Assam straight into homes in Atlanta and Chicago. “The more you use eri, the softer it becomes,” says Pinashi—and it shows.
Cushions and pillow covers currently dominate eri’s décor universe. Curtains are rare. Sculptural installations even rarer. That’s where Ahmedabad-based spatial designer Ariane Thakore Ginwala steps in with her studio This and That. Her Aagor Collection transforms naturally dyed eri silk into textile wall hangings, while her Diamond Terracotta Installation Wooden Panel and Woven Wall Hanging layers handwoven silk with fine wooden strips—craft meeting contemporary architecture in perfect harmony.
Eri silk doesn’t shout its luxury. It whispers it—through touch, through time, through the gentle politics of choosing cruelty-free over convenience. In a world obsessed with excess, this is the definition of kind opulence.