Silk has been loved for centuries upon centuries for its warm shimmer and soft texture. The ancient Chinese sage Mencius said: Only those over the age of fifty are permitted to wear silk. You can see from this how much it has been valued.

But, like a beautiful woman, it is not easily controlled: It wrinkles and fades easily. It is also often a victim of insect diners. The biggest headache is washing it. If you wash it yourself, you not only have to use the softest cleaning agent--cold water detergent--but after you wash it, you have to wrap it in dry cloth before you can put it through the spin cycle in the washer (or else it will come out a bunched up mess). And when you iron it, if the iron is not set at just the right temperature, it is easy to burn the material. Because of this, most people just send their silk to a dry cleaning shop.

Silk Revolution?: But in recent years there has been an about-face for ready-made silk clothing. It has become more diverse in colors and tints, and has a romantic, glossy beauty; it is easy to wash, dry, and iron, yet retains that old gentility and stately grace. This "water-washed silk" has become immediately popular, sweeping from Europe to America and then across the seas to Taiwan. Besides ladies' blouses, jackets, pants, and skirts, now even men's shirts and jackets with water-washed silk have come on the market.

Furthermore, prices are also very "pluralized." There is everything from an NT$5,000 shirt to an NT$500 jacket, and you can find the trail of water-washed silks whether you're at the classiest boutique or at the night market hawker's stall. The difference is that the latter is water-washable silk, while the former is silk which has gone through a water processing treatment.

"In fact, the 'washed silk' in many shops is not real silk, but fake silk made of polyester," says Chang Hsiu, a member of the Business Expansion Committee of the Fabric Promotion Association. Real washed silk refers to genuine raw silk which has passed through a water washing treatment. The friction of the treatment gives the material a pearl like gloss. An ancient Indian washing technique, it has only drawn the attention of European clothiers in the past few years in order to accommodate the popular Greek and Roman style wrap-around clothing, and it immediately swept the globe. And because this washed silk is still genuine silkworm made, it retains its graceful character, and though it still wrinkles easily when washed, it doesn't fade and is easy to iron.

A Big Seller Even with Hawkers: With the European vogue for washed silk sweeping the globe, naturally fashion-conscious Taiwan has not been exempt. On top of this has been the local move to "original Chinese fashion creations," expressing the traditional gentle, sultry Chinese style. Washed silk is in the right place at the right time. The clothes made from the type of Hong kong imported washed silk favored by designers are not cheap. A shirt designed by Li Chun-chi for example, fetches more than NT$4,000, a coat over NT$8,000.

In order to supply the demands of another stratum of consumers, domestic and Japanese manufacturers have begun putting man-made polyester through the same water process, thus creating fake washed silk. The effect is identical to that of the genuine washed silk, but this one is water washable (that is, need not be dry-cleaned), and the price is one-half that of the genuine item. It saves a lot of maintenance headaches as well. Thus, in terms of its market, fake washed silk has found its way to being sold even by street hawkers.

With both going by the "washed-silk," nomination, but prices vastly different, how can you be sure to tell the difference? Chen Er-nan, a planner/ designer at Hong Jian Industries, which accounts for half of the domestic market in man-made polyesters, says that natural silk is colder to the touch, that it is more rough and textured when rubbed, and that real silk lets air pass through, making it more comfortable to wear. Fake silk is warmer, and tends to be more smooth and shiny. Further, real silk has always inspired a feeling of nobility, so that mostly delicate, graceful colors (like light blue, light grey-green, or taro) are chosen. Fake silk is more vulgarized, so that colors are generally more diverse and bright. The most certain way is to use fire: Real silk catches quickly and turns to ash, while fake silk melts into drops like a candle.

From Growth to Stability: How much longer can washed silk stay popular among the ever-changing women who love it today?

"Right now it's still flourishing," says Tsai Meng-hsia, a designer specializing in modified ch'i-p'ao products. Tsai recently visited a clothing factory in mainland China, and discovered that there were still a great many orders from West German and other European clients for washed silk jackets and other items, and estimates that it can remain dominant for at least another year. Chen Er-nan believes that, given the usual three to four year life cycle of materials in Taiwan, washed silk should still have one or two strong years ahead. Though it will decline, it will stabilize, and no matter what there will alwae a certain consumer group which loves silk material.

What will become king of the mill after washed silk? Chen Er-nan predicts it will be cool linen material. On the basis of precedents among readymade clothing manufacturers, their industry confederation will first put a small trial batch on the market to test consumer response. So if you see linen material clothing, maybe that will be the thing to wear in 1992 or 1993!

[Picture Caption]

These washed silk items made from polyester are nearly the equal of the real thing; the only thing they can't get right is to make them porous to air.

(Materials courtesy of Hong Yuan Enterprises, Ltd. photo by Vincent Chang)