NEW FABRIC COLLECTION BY PONGEES - PART VI

PONGEES – SILK WITH 5*-SERVICE

Pongees has been specialising in luxurious plain dyed mulberry silks for more than 90 years, working with mills around the world to deliver the best quality and price, with a 5* customer service, to all lovers of the Queen of Fabrics.

“Freedom and creativity are the basis for our fabric and colour choices for AW 26/27 as consumers move towards a more optimistic future and an individualistic approach to what they wear and for their interiors styling,” says Nick Moore, managing director, Pongees. “We expresses the new season’s trend in fabrics that flow and shades that are both natural and contrastingly bright and proud, all with a 1metre minimum.”

The neutrals, greys and earthy browns sit alongside yellow, paprika and red in silk qualities such as duchess and crepe backed satins, organzas, georgettes, tulles and twills. Pongees silks are an ideal base for printing, embroidery and pleating, which expands creative and innovative design options.

While silk is an inherently sustainable fibre, Pongees is seeing increased interest in its handwoven wild silks, produced from the cocoons of silkworms that are reared on protected bushes in the wild, feeding naturally on the leaves of indigenous trees. There are also tulles with zero, or reduced, levels of formaldehyde – a chemical widely-used in fabric dyeing and finishing processes.

Pongees mills have OEKO-TEX accreditation and utilise production from GOTS certified sources. “We have stock of all our fabrics at our UK headquarters and aim to process orders for meterage or samples the same day, for next day delivery. We provide swatches, first five free of charge, including delivery, as well as shade cards for all our fabrics,” adds Moore.

The origins of the present-day Pongees Ltd lie in Switzerland, a country that has historical connections with silk trading with China stretching back over many hundreds of years. In the mid 19th century Ostertag Hausamann Faes was established and quickly became a leading silk trader.

In 1931 a branch office was opened in London under the name Pongees Ltd – pongee being a generic term for a group of Chinese silks that were especially popular at that time.

The main business was selling greige fabric to the printing industry for silk ties and scarves.  Over the years the range has been extended to offer plain dyed 100% silks and blends as well as some synthetic alternatives for designers in all sectors of the textile industry, including fashion, lingerie, bridal, interiors and theatre and film production. Pongees retains links with the original business through our chairman Christian Hausamann, a grandson of one of the founders.