Secrets of the Silk Worm: Inside a Factory in Cambodia

Cambodia’s silk industry dates back to the 13th century Khmer Empire, when it developed along the Mekong and Bassac rivers south of Phnom Penh. The ancient art was disrupted during the 1970s with the rise of the Khmer Rouge regime and the genocide that followed. In the 1990s, the silk-making industry slowly began to make a comeback and today it employs as many 20,000 Cambodians, 98 percent of whom are women. Silk is essential to the Cambodian garment industry, which contributes about 10 percent to the nation's GDP. Photographs by Brent Lewin for Bloomberg