Ten years ago in a dimly lit Beijing restaurant, I heard something unforgettable, the mellifluous sway of a lady’s trousers as she crossed the dining room. Was it leather, suede or even paper? The slightly sheer, ebony hued fabric, unlike any I had seen before, moved like the spellbinding rush of a river after the monsoon. Duck and dinner companions forgotten, I was transfixed by that evocative swish.

This rare silk, I would soon discover, has long captivated its admirers, as evidenced by its poetic names that translate from Chinese as fragrant cloud silk, bamboo silk, tea silk, lacquered silk, soft gold and singing silk cloth, among others. I knew I wanted to work with this “clothing that makes people feel like floating clouds.”

Calling this melodious textile by its more contemporary monikers, mud cloth and mud silk, in 2020 I created NOIR Mud Silk to honor its timeless qualities while preserving the natural process and heritage traditions. Following the rhythms of nature, NOIR would present editions according to the availability of this precious material and incorporate the unique natural shades produced each year along China’s Pearl River. One extremely long year of intense experimentation later, I am pleased to formally launch NOIR Mud Silk with ‘Rust,’ a special edition that ushers this 2,500-year old legacy towards the future without impacting its organic nature.