The story of silk is the story of luxury and power.  “Silk has been a luxury for 5,000 years and has traveled organically.  Every culture has embraced it and infused their own ways of life into it.”  It is the longest and strongest fiber.  It takes dyes beautifully  and can be woven into a variety of fabrics, each with its own style and purpose.  It has also been used as embroidery on a silk ground or other fabrics. All the fabrics in the photo have silk in them.

The Chinese developed the silk industry and kept it a tight secret.  The known world wanted this  

shimmering fabric and the “Silk Road” was born and thrived for centuries making many people  wealthy.  Eventually the secret was stolen and Byzantine weavers enhanced silk by wrapping gold threads around it and created intricate patterns.  Chinese weavers loved the technique so much they devised their own patterns.

The Ottoman Turks seized Constantinople and the silk business and put their mark on it.  From there, the capability traveled to Italy.  The Italians enhanced the technology by experimenting with dyeing methods and fabric consistency producing a diverse range of threads with dazzling effects in plain silks as well as complex weaves such as brocades, lampas and velvet.

Next the French brought the industry home and put their mark on silk.  They crafted lighter silks, meandering ribbons and developed moire by using heat and pressure rollers creating a watermark.  French Huguenots brought the industry to London and patterns evolved into smaller flowers based on actual botanical studies.  Back in France Joseph-Marie Jacquard used a series of punch cards (the first computer) to automate the weaving process and eliminated jobs, but the weavers continued to develop new patterns.  Silk was brought to the US by the fabled Jim Thompson after WWII in Thailand.   He changed color palette to suit our tastes.  Softer, more muted colors that are still the hallmark of the modern silk business and his company,  Jim Thompson, still thrives.