Master Heo Ho checking the silk

​

| "Among natural fibers, pongee is the best... It will become a treasure industry, not a declining industry"

“I can still see the adults in the neighborhood busy weaving silk since I was little.”

“Helping my mother in these conditions naturally became my lifelong job, and even now after 40 years, I still feel good and have fun while weaving silk.”

Heo Ho (60, CEO of Heo Silk Textiles), who has been producing traditional silk fabric with cocoon threads for 40 years in Hamchang-eup, Sangju-si, a rather quiet place 25 minutes away from downtown Sangju and the hometown of Hamchang silk. He was selected as the best craftsman in the textile field.

In particular, ‘Heossi silk fabric’, which he manages, was also designated as a ‘local root company’ and ‘industrial heritage’ by Gyeongsangbuk-do in August this year. CEO Heo, whose hometown is Gyochon-ri, Hamchang-eup, Sangju-si, got married at the age of 26 and started weaving and trading silk in earnest. CEO Huh is in the 5th generation, and his wife, Min Sook-hee, is in the 4th generation of silk weaving.

Master Heo Ho checking the silk

△ Pioneering a new market for pongee with twin cocoons and dyeing.

As the mass production of silk began, customers stabilized and orders increased. There were many days when the factory was in full operation. While running the factory, CEO Heo constantly improved the machines for winding yarn and weaving silk.

He also thought about diversifying silk, which is one color of the number. After his long research, he came to pay attention to twin cocoons and dyeing. He expressed the rough and irregular texture of twin cocoons in various patterns. Silk made with twin cocoon threads was reflected in wavy shapes or abstract cloud shapes. The market response was very good.

Since only CEO Heo woven the double cocoon thread silk, he was able to decide the price himself. The market response was good, and orders continued. In silk, colors that could not be imitated by other fabrics were expressed, and it gave off a noble feeling in itself.

Afterwards, research was repeated to express various colors and patterns of natural dyes on silk. Various methods were used to express the pattern, such as folding or crumpling the silk to make contact with the dye, or adjusting the brightness in the process of drying after dyeing.

In some cases, the intended pattern is created by harmonizing the gradation of color and the evaporative property of the dye. Silk farms with research and experimentation spirit like me are raising the reputation of Hamchang silk.

Master Heo Ho checking the silk

△ Hamchang Silk is developing anew by turning crisis into opportunity.

Hamchang silk, which has become one of the three representative traditional fabrics in Korea, standing shoulder to shoulder with Hansan ramie and Andongpo, is attracting more and more consumers every day.

Silk clothes, also called silk, have been regarded as precious fabrics since ancient times as a symbol of wealth or success. Chemical fibers such as nylon and polyester were once popular, but people are looking for natural fibers that are not sensitive to fashion again, and the elegance and warmth of silk fabric has returned consumers' hearts.

Hamchang silk has a soft and rugged texture, yet exudes a nostalgic classical beauty, and recently developed products are well-received for their modern sensibilities.

A few years ago, the Hamchang area was in danger of having to stop producing traditional silk because it couldn't find domestic silkworm cocoons. This is because silkworm cocoons have become rare as the sericulture industry has shifted to health supplements.

However, since 2002, as Gyeongbuk-do and Sangju-si set up a five-year plan and supported the creation of mulberry fields, Hamchang Myungju began to revive.

In particular, scarves and fabrics dyed with persimmon on traditional silk have been reborn as unique patterns that are only one in the world, and their rarity value has been recognized. Sangju is the nation's leading producer of persimmons, so it has the advantage of not having to pay extra material costs because it uses the persimmons that have fallen as ingredients.

CEO Heo Ho is working on silk warp.

△ Efforts to globalize Hamchang Myeongju and spread traditional industries.

At first, Mr. Heo's silk, which only maintained its existence, increased its income every year thanks to the reputation of Hamchang silk, held by Sangju City, the myeongju fashion design festival, the establishment of a silk theme park and silk museum, and support for sericulture farms.

Encouraged by this, CEO Huh brought about innovation in the Hamchang silk industry by incorporating a new technology to coat silk fabric with persimmon water, paving the way for export.

The silk industry, which had been in the limelight as an export industry until the mid-1970s, turned into “sericulture for eating” such as mulberries and mulberries as “wearing sericulture” practically withered nationwide after the advent of synthetic fibers such as nylon.

However, sericulture worn by Sangju is showing off its health and is being revived as the 6th agricultural industry along with sericulture eaten.

CEO Huh visited the site of the 2006 Asia-Pacific Silk Insect Symposium, the 2009 Rural Development Administration's on-site discussion for the sericulture industry's leap forward, the 2010 International Slow City Federation's visit to Italy headquarters, and the 2013 visit to the Korea Silk Road Exploration Team. It served as an important base as an industrial site and a place of cultural interpretation.

In particular, he devoted himself to the development of technologies related to silk weaving, persimmon, and natural dyeing, and as of 2019, he holds 9 patents and 2 utility models. He submitted his silk works to national contests and won more than 20 awards.

2019 Gyeongbuk Provincial Government Exhibition

In addition, efforts were made to spread traditional industries through domestic and foreign exhibitions and experiential events, such as the National Folk Museum of Korea, Daegu Textile Museum, Gyeongbuk Provincial Office invitational exhibition, American and French exhibitions, etc.

Recognized for his contribution to the succession and development of Hamchang Myeongju and the 6th industrialization, CEO Heo was selected as a 'regional celebrity' by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization in 2018, and also won the Gyeongsangbuk-do Culture Award (culture category) in the same year. did.

Heo’s Silk Textile Jamsil, also designated as an industrial heritage, was built by relocating Jamsil in Yeongcheon, which was built in 1959. By exhibiting prototypes and photos of old sericulture tools, it has been reborn as a treasure trove of disappearing sericulture culture. Now, the old sericulture and silk weaving tools are well preserved by age, and many people from home and abroad visit it, in recognition of its value as a living museum where tradition and modernity meet.

Lastly, CEO Huh said, “Pongee is the best among natural fibers such as ramie and hemp. I would like to say that the silk industry is not a declining industry, but a treasure industry. This is because although myeongju is old, there are many new fields to be developed. If you think about it a little, a new field that is precious like a treasure will emerge and I am sure it will quickly become popular in the market,” he said, suggesting a rosy future for the textile field.

The U.S. San Francisco Kyubang craft team is touring Heo's silk fabrics.

Front view of Heo's silk fabric 

Cultural travelers with local celebrities who visited Heo's Silk Textile 

Commemorative photo of the visit of the Kyubang craft team in San Francisco, USA 

Photo of the visit of the US delegation to Davis 

Heo's silk weaving invitational exhibition held at Gyeongbuk Provincial Office