Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This gorgeously illustrated volume not only offers a tour through the fascinating history of silk but also a glimpse into the future, when imaginative designers and textile producers will be changing the boundaries of what is possible with this extraordinary material. Textile expert Mary Schoeser presents an authoritative account of the development of silk, its properties and practical uses, and its role in some of the greatest achievements in the history of fashion design.
Silk is magical. Made by worms, it is able to absorb up to thirty times its weight in water, it is warmer than wool, and it is unsurpassed for beauty and touch. Schoeser focuses keen attention on silk's evolution as a symbol of status and substance, then traces its central function in 19th- and 20th-century glamour, expressed through the work of designers from Christian Dior to Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga to Emmanuel Ungaro. Schoeser also examines the innovative use of silk by today's cutting-edge designers, among them Alexander McQueen, Issey Miyake, and John Galliano of Dior. She concludes with a detailed investigation of new silk technologies and how they continue to extend both the physical properties of silk and the possibilities for creative design.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Silk--sensual, versatile, refined--is magical. Made by worms, it can absorb up to 30 times its weight in water and is warmer than wool. Schoeser (fashion & textiles, Central St. Martin's Coll. of Art & Design, London; World Textiles: A Concise History) presents a historical account of silk's development and its role as a stimulus to trade and cultural exchange. She also discusses sericulture, the industry that breeds silkworms, produces the eggs, conserves valuable genetic strains, prepares the cocoons, and draws and throws the threads. She liberally covers the many uses of silk and its role in fashion design and concludes with a detailed investigation of new silk technologies and the textile's use by today's cutting-edge designers. Julien Macdonald, one such designer, writes the foreword; Bruno Marcandalli (director, Inst. for Silk Research, Milan) contributes; and Silvio Farago authors the discussion of sericulture. A few other books have been recently published on silk, but this one has more than 250 color illustrations showing the beauty and versatility of this fascinating textile, a feature that makes it an important reference work for contemporary designers. Recommended for large public libraries as well as for special libraries with collections in textiles and fabric design and especially fashion design.--Sylvia Andrews, Butler Univ., Indianapolis (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

Sumptuously illustrated, with a well-written and informative text, this book by Schoeser (Central St. Martin's College of Art & Design, London) and her colleagues provides a thoroughgoing survey of the history of silk, its usages, and sericulture from 3430 BCE to the present. For 5,000 years, this natural fiber has been associated with luxury and status. Surviving examples from as early as the 4th to 3rd century BCE, other archaeological evidence, and records, including the legal records of Constantinople of 230 CE, are used. By 451-221 BCE, China had developed the first thoroughly organized silk industry. The great trade routes of land and sea are defined. Identified are the developments of the silk industry in Europe, especially Italy and France (damask at Damascus, the velvets of Italy); the 19th-century Jacquard loom; and the migration of workers to Paterson, NJ. Varied usages are cited, including fashionable clothing, religious garb, wall and bed hangings, carpets, surgical sutures, fishing lines, and dental floss. Technical information on sericulture and the development of changing production techniques are illustrated. The book also examines recent couture designs and silk's future and potential as technologies change and it must compete with synthetic fabrics. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers, faculty, researchers, professionals, two-year technical program students. J. J. Poesch emerita, Tulane University

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Mary Schoeser is senior research fellow in fashion/textiles at Central St. Martin's College of Art & Design in London. She has served as historic textiles advisor to English Heritage and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Among her many books is World Textiles: A Concise History . Julien Macdonald is a leading designer of couture and ready-to-wear fashions. In 2001 he was named British Designer of the Year, and he was creative director of Givenchy in Paris from 2001 to 2004. Bruno Marcandalli is director of Institute for Silk Research (Stazione Sperimentale per la Seta) in Milan and professor of the chemistry and technology of coloring substances at the Universit#65533; dell'Insubria, Como.