Introducing NOIR Mud Silk by Marcella
Introducing NOIR Mud Silk
One size, seasonless, reversible & unisex
by Marcella Echavarria
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 Handmade 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 Handmade with ‘Rust,’ a special edition that ushers this 2,500-year old legacy towards the future without impacting its organic nature.
Nature Nurtured
That sonorous first encounter led me to Guangdong’s Pearl River Delta where the base textile, a traditional southern Chinese silk, gets handmade in a naturally closed-loop organic ecosystem. Silkworms that spin its superfine threads eat the leaves of mulberry trees planted by ponds in which the fish eat the worm droppings, and in turn fertilize the mulberry trees. ‘Mud silk’ has two sides: that glossy black face I mistook for leather or paper, and on the reverse, a matte ochre shade achieved using ground organic yams. Dioscorea cirrhosa, a medicinal tuber native to the region, also adds antibacterial and antivirus properties, a benefit for people with sensitive skin.The black side, with its thin resin-like coating boasts water-resistant properties, making mud silk durable and easy to care for.
I grew to admire the textile’s varied weights from dense and cozy to feather light. Wear and washing only enhance its natural sheen. The lustrous finish increases with age as its colors intensify like the patina of fine leather while the texture softens. In imperial China, the most exquisite examples of this silk were sent to the Forbidden City then stored for years like fine wine. It is still sought after by collectors worldwide.
Ancient Chinese Secrets
Mud silk dates to the fifth century when Hakka fishermen observed their nets, treated with yam juice to prevent rotting turned black over prolonged contact with the iron-rich river mud. Applied to indigenous silk, the cloth became known as xiang yun sha, literally ‘perfumed cloud clothing,’ so called because wearers felt as if they were floating on clouds. Eventually these textiles, as well as garments fabricated from them, were exported along the Silk Route, particularly during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. In the 1920s as China’s silk industry blossomed, Chinese and European elites sought out mud silk for its natural characteristics and noble look. The finest mud silk fetched prices more expensive than gold. Mao’s Cultural Revolution brought silk production to a halt. Global demand largely shifted to ‘made in China’ synthetic materials that beget the environmental disaster of ‘fast fashion.’ Mud silk production resurfaced again in the 21st century, particularly since the technique’s recognition in 2009 as part of China´s National Intangible Culture Heritage.
The high price of mud silk meant mainly merchants and wealthy people wore the native fabric. In old Guangzhou, loose tops and pants could be seen on opera singers, tea- purveyors, bankers, silk dealers, among other members of the fashionable classes.
Green New Deal
Climate change has a direct effect on mud silk production. Alterations in the iron content of the Pearl River due to over-exploitation and shifting, unpredictable weather patterns make this 2,500-year-old cultural practice increasingly difficult for artisans. “I live at the mercy of weather,” laments Liang Zhu. A leading inheritor of the tradition, Zhu owns of one of the few centers that can still produce genuine mud silk gauze, located in Shunde in China´s Guagdong Province.
Every nuance of this astonishing material is tied to climate and earth. Starting with silk, a renewable source, this 100% ecological textile uses natural plant dyes, river mud, sunshine and honest labor. Mud silk involves a seasonal communal effort from May to October by artisans who spend the other months planting rice. It is still produced in the same region where those fishermen made their discovery.
The future of mud silk rests with enlightened people who understand the limited resources of our planet, appreciate the enchanting qualities of this rare cloth and poetry to be worn and treasured, mud silk offers living proof that tradition is timeless.
Buenos Aires - Cusco - Oaxaca
“From Incan architecture to unmatched weavings and graceful humanity, Peru dazzled us. ”
Back from a Walkabout
We dove deep into Latin America and took a long swim in the depths of these rich and diverse lands.
Teresa took Eric to meet her extended family in Buenos Aires, that elegant, Euro-Latin city on the banks of the Rio la Plata. There we enjoyed wonderful cafes as well as the timeless ritual of the family afternoon asados. A.K.A, barbecue of the highest order.
Then off to Peru to cool down from Argentina’s balmy swelter of summer heat. The high Andes in the rainy season, dressed in velvet green mountains capped with glaciers. The counterpoint to this were bright splashes of red and magenta, the traditional dress of the mountain Quechua people. The color of vitality. From Incan architecture to unmatched weavings and graceful humanity, Peru dazzled us.
We then migrated onward, from the southern hemisphere to the northern and immersed ourselves in Oaxaca. Eric took Teresa through mountains and valleys to meet a diversity of potters. In the process we put together a gorgeous collection of pure Oaxacan earth and soul, formed into pieces of beauty and function by hands of generational masters. These clay spirits will arrive in Santa Fe sometime in June.
This whole journey South was like hitting the refresh button. Getting out into different air, different flavors, different energies and remembering, yet once again, that the world is so vast and diverse. And sometimes we have our noses so close to the grindstone that that’s all we can see. So here’s to walkabouts just as often as one can!
With gratitude,
Teresa and Eric
PROUD SOUTH WEST EVENT
PROUD SOUTH is a mesmerizing visual experience that celebrates the creative forces from the southern parts of the planet. Through the colourful and expressive lens of contemporary fashion, photography, styling, and art, Lidewij Edelkoort in collaboration with Lili Tedde and Mariola Lopez Mariño bring together emerging and established talents from wide and far, illustrating that the axis of global creativity has indeed dramatically shifted.
Similarly, UXUA UTOPIA is a collector’s object that reinvents the coffee-table book by combining the lifestyle elements of design, art, food, craft, and travel to explore the Uxua hotel’s achievements in establishing humanitarian values for a new world; a very local project in Brazil that strives to create social impact.
Join us on Sunday, July 9th as we welcome Philip Fimmano of Trend Union at Living Threads Studio for the launch of these stunning new publications. We will also be welcoming Noir Mud Silk and I Owe You, for a special pop-up. And just to top it all off there will be live Andean music by Lucho Rodriguez - we hope to see you there as we celebrate all this creative energy together!
PROUD SOUTH WEST
Sunday, July 9
3 to 6PM
RSVP
11.11 /ELEVEN ELEVEN TRUNK SHOW with Co-Founder Mia Morikawa, AUGUST 14th 11 am - 5 pm
We welcome Mia Morikawa of 11.11 eleven eleven to Living Threads Studio in Santa Fe!
We are over-the-top thrilled to host Mia Morikawa, co-founder of 11.11 for a trunk show of the “seed to stitch” work of 11.11 for our Santa Fe community! This stunning, joyful and superb-quality work so perfectly aligns with our values and is part of what makes Living Threads shine.
Craftsmanship lies at the heart of 11.11 / eleven eleven. Renowned for its use of indigenous cotton and 100% natural dyes, the label uses heritage techniques such as hand spinning, hand loom weaving, hand painting, miniature tie-dyeing, and quilting, producing small-batch slow-made clothing in collaboration with groups of artisans located all across India. This approach is light on our planet, highly positive for all involved in it’s creation and simply elegant no matter how you look at it.
POP UP: NILDA CALLEÑAUPA & Centro de Textiles Tradicionales del Cusco, July 20th 10am to 5pm
Please join us for a POP UP with NILDA CALLEÑAUPA & Centro de Textiles Tradicionales del Cusco. July 20th at Living Threads Studio.
Remember
Inspired by the wisdom and knowledge of rooted humanity and our dynamic world, we invite you to join us.
Photograph by Eric Mindling Inspired by the wisdom and knowledge of rooted humanity and our dynamic world, we invite you to join us.
Come sit in a circle of elders and wrap yourself in natural fibers.
Remember what it is like to be calm.
Remember what it is like to be nurtured.
Remember what it is like to be guided.
Remember what it is like to be held.
Remember what it is like to be loved.
Remember what it is like to be at peace.
Remember what it is like to be noble (dignified and noble clear-eyed).
Remember what is like to have your existence imbued with meaning and purpose and holiness and playfulness and laughter.
Remember what you never knew you’d forgotten.
Photograph by Eric Mindling 
Living Threads and the Grace of Things Well Done
Hand-woven, natural-fiber textiles made with skill and experience. Thoughtfully designed, selected with a sensitive eye, and shared in a way that pleases the heart. Objects whose production helps maintain healthy soil, the water, and the people who create them.
Hand-woven, natural-fiber textiles made with skill and experience. Thoughtfully designed, selected with a sensitive eye, and shared in a way that pleases the heart. Objects whose production helps maintain healthy soil, the water, and the people who create them. Creations whose sales contribute to the economic well-being of the producers. Handmade goods come from women and men who carry on generational artistic traditions; this is what it takes to keep the old knowledge alive, to feed the flames of ancient human ways. Worthy.
Photographs that are deep with meaning. Each image tells a story. These are stories of First Nations people of the Americas dressed in their traditional clothing/community fashion which symbolically represents a connection to a people, a place, a cultural heritage, and an artistic tradition. And each photo is a chapter in a greater story, that of the richness of human diversity and all the beauty we’ve dreamed into being through the depths of time. These photos were taken with care, patience, and respect. They have been printed with utmost skill and craftsmanship and the highest quality materials.
These natural fibers, these crafted images, and all that goes into them and lies behind them in heritage, story, and meaning... this is the grace of things well done.