Page 117 - BWM Dec 2012
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December 2012
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land. During this era, weavers had begun to
reproduce more affordable versions of the
silken-styled Kashmir shawls so popular in
the fashion sensitivities of India. Operations
hit a snag by way of Napoleon Bonaparte
who enforced a blockade on Great Britain, a
move that effectively prevented the import-
ing of goods, including requisite silk, which
was used in all the sewing mills of that era.
Necessity is said to be the mother of in-
vention, and to that degree, an idea spawned
in the minds of two brothers, James and Pat-
rick Clark. These Scotsmen pioneered a new
method of twisting strands of cotton to pro-
duce a thread so smooth and so durable, it
was soon deemed as the perfect substitute to
silk. By 1812, the Clarks had devised a way
to produce 3-ply cotton thread and were well
on their way to opening their first factory for
the manufacturing of that which would go
on to thrillingly thread its way into commer-
cial mills, as well as the homes of hand-sewn
hobbyists.
The flourishing of their factory was duly
