Meet Pongees UK: Specialists in Luxury Silks for Over 90 years
Heavy Satin in Nettle
Example of a Pongees shade card.
Pongees
enjoy the new year with colourful silks
Pongees has been specialising in luxury silks for 90 years. This British company works with the world’s leading designers, providing more than 1000 fabrics of the highest quality, available from stock with a minimum order of just 1 metre.
Pongees prides itself on the extensive colour options available within its plains, embroidered and jacquard silks that dominate the collection. It has also started this year by adding even more shades.
So that customers can appreciate the colour palettes, Pongees has upgraded its shade cards to include a large feeler. Shade cards are available to purchase individually or in catalogues containing every card or those specific for designers of fashion, lingerie, bridalwear or menswear.
“Appreciating the handle of a fabric is just as important as its shade and price,” says managing director Nick Moore.
Pongees collection includes tulles, chiffons, crepes, douppions, habotais, organzas, velvets and mohair. Fabrics are sourced from leading mills in the UK, France, Italy and Asia.
Working with the Queen of Fibres
Throughout its 5,000-year history, silk has been considered one of the most highly valued and versatile natural fibres. Silk is produced from the threads of cocoons spun by silkworms on their journey to becoming a silkmoth. Each cocoon is made from a single thread that can be nearly a mile long and is about the size of a cotton ball.
While different insects can produce silk, by far the largest quantity comes from the domesticated, home-farmed, Bombyx mori moth that feeds on mulberry leaves. Most of Pongees silks are 100 per cent mulberry silk, the highest quality.
To obtain a continuous unbroken thread, the cocoons undergo a steaming process while the silkworm is in metamorphosis in its transition stage of changing into a silk month. To maintain the sericulture (silk production) cycle, a percentage of cocoons are allowed to transition completely and for the silk moth to create a hole and emerge from the cocoon. The filaments from these broken cocoons are processed and known as peace silk.
As the individual silk threads are too thin for most uses, several strands are twisted together in a process called throwing. Different yarns can be produced by this method according to the number of threads used and the direction of the twist.
This Queen of Fibres is also combined with other yarns to further extend its versatility. Silk is often mixed with wool, for warmth, and cotton, where it adds softness.
By combining silk with synthetic threads, such as polyester or viscose, this delivers fabrics that combine the luxury of the natural fibre with wrinkle-resistant qualities of the man-made yarns.
The weaving and knitting of the world most luxurious fibre means that the fabric may contain minor variations and irregularities. These are characteristics and should not be treated as defects.
Silk is also a perfect fabric for printing and Pongees provides its greige fabric ready for dyes and paints.
Designer Kylee Ailsa Steele uses Douppion for this green scalloped dress; Photographer: Harrivenne; Model: Abbey Broughton.
Heavy Satin in Champagne
90 YEAR HISTORY
Pongees origins lie in Switzerland, a country that has historical connections in silk trading with China for 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 objective was to sell mainly greige fabric for the printing industry for silk ties and scarves.
PONGEES VALUES
PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Pongees believes everyone should be treated with respect and work in a safe environment, that employment is freely chosen, working conditions are safe and hygienic, child labour is not used, Living Wages are paid and working hours are not excessive.
Pongees actively promotes improving the impact the business has on the environment and the proportion of materials and components which are obtained from sustainable sources. As a silk supplier Pongees fabric is entirely woven from fibres that come from natural sources, are biodegradable, and support a low environmental impact.
Stretch Chiffon in Chocolate
Extra hues can be found among the Pebble Jacquard, Stretch Chiffon and Stretch Velvet qualities.
WHY WE RECOMMEND PONGEES TO ALL DESIGNERS
Apart from the superior quality of their natural silk fabrics:
Designers Can Buy Small Quantities: Minimum 1 metre (1 yard) for sampling with the confidence that the fabric of their choice is immediately available when a design goes into full production as Pongees keeps stock of all its fabrics.
From Couturiers to Students - Pongees Caters for All: All buyers are treated equally, irrespective of the size of their order or frequency of purchase. Pongees works with leading couturiers and major brands, independent designers, dressmakers, costumiers, tailors and interiors specialists, as well as students looking for fabric for projects and their final year collections.
One-On-One Consulting: Pongees’ knowledgeable sales team is ready to help designers and fabric buyers secure the right fabric for their collections.
FOCUS ON THE FABRICS
To help buyers select their silks, Pongees has divided its collection into 20 main groups, within which are 90 sub categories so there is an enormous choice of weights and structures. Knowing which is the best silk for the job is all important, so here is a guide to some of the qualities.
CHIFFON
Chiffon is a beautiful, floaty material that is available in a wide choice of colours and degrees of translucence. French and Chinese chiffon is stocked in both satin and stretch varieties and is perfect for daywear and lingerie.
Stretch Chiffon in Rivera
CREPE
Crepe is ideal for draping, with its soft texture and flowing movement. Included in this group are crepe de chine, stretch crepe de chine, double crepe and marocain.
Douppion
Douppion is a type of plain weave silk fabric with a fantastic lustre. Also known as dupioni, dupion or douppioni, it has a crisp quality that makes it suitable for many different end-uses - from wedding dresses and jackets to curtains and lampshades. The fabric is made by weaving two threads in the weft and a fine thread in the warp. This results in a tightly woven, heavily slubbed finish that gives the fabric great shine and texture.
Pongees’ Indian version, a favourite for both fashion and interiors projects, has a rustic, raw quality with a beautiful lustre, while the Chinese Indian quality combines Chinese warp yarns and Indian weft yarns for a smooth finish.
The Bespoke Boutique features both qualities of Douppion for its lamps. Pictured here at left and middle are thyme and black shades. Example of Indian Douppion is pictured at right.
HABOTAI
Habotai is renowned for its lightness, softness and beautiful sheen. This plain weave silk is a particularly popular fashion choice for linings, as well as blouses, lingerie, pareos and scarves. It is also top of the list for designers of lampshades and plays a big role in the arts. Apart from costumes, this silk quality is used to create specialist lighting effects for stage, TV and film and for Kabuki drapes. In museums, habotai can be found covering display furniture to shield it from direct sunlight and avoid colour degradation.
Habotai feels very silky to the touch and this slightly slippery attribute means that extra care needs to be taken when sewing. While light, it is not as transparent as chiffon.
Habotai was traditionally made in Japan and used for making kimonos
Habotai Lupin
JERSEY
Jersey is great for draping being a soft and light fabric that can be used for both eveningwear and casual looks.
Silk Jersey
ORGANZA
Organza is both a strong and supple fabric that can be used to create volume with a structured drape. Options are extensive to include: Chinese organza, French organza couture, French organza satin, organza ghazar ripple, organza glitter and satin organza.
Organza Satin
SATIN
Satin combines strength with a lustrous finish. the heavy weight versions, such as Athena or Duchess, or the more midweight crepe satin, are glamourous fabrics popular for bridal gowns, eveningwear and lingerie.
Heavy Satin in bran
There are now 34 shades of Heavy Satin
TAFFETA
Taffeta is a stiff fabric with a shiny finish, which is often used to sculpt eye-catching structural silhouettes.
TASAR
Tasar is designed for customers looking for an artisanal/rustic finish. It is a natural-looking fabric that works well in tailoring and interior design.
TULLE
Tulle, while lightweight and fragile in appearance, its mesh-like construction can be deceptive, for it is very strong. Popular for bridal and high fashion designs, the stiffness of tulle helps to create amazing silhouettes while still retaining a soft outline.
There are more than 80 colour options in each of the Phantom Tulle and the polyamide Tulle ranges.
TWILL
Twill, with its interesting surface texture and pliability, is a strong choice of fabric for shirts, ties, waistcoats and scarves. A version combining silk/cotton is available alongside the 100 per cent qualities.
MEET PONGEES IN LA
EXHIBITING AT LA TEXTILE
February 23-25 • Booth 231
