Black Edition | Hikari

Hikari is a cloth about light. The viscose does it, catching and throwing back whatever falls on the surface, so the colour shifts as you move past and darkens as the day goes. Linen gives a dry matt backbone underneath that stops the whole thing turning glassy, and the acrylic keeps the hand from going limp. There is no printed motif and no repeat to chase; the interest is entirely in the weave. In daylight it reads quiet. Under lamps in the evening it lifts, and the warmer colourways glow rather than shine.

The composition is 45% PL polyester, 21% VI viscose, 20% LI linen and 14% PC acrylic, woven to a 135 centimetre width, with no pattern repeat. The five colourways are pitched to that low evening light: Copper, warm and burnished; Soft Gold, paler and more powdery than the name suggests; Silt, a grey-taupe that grounds the others; Plaster, the palest of the set; and Jadeite, a deep clouded green.

We use Hikari where a room is mostly lived in after dark. Full-length curtains in a dining room, interlined so they hang heavy and take the light properly. Long panels either side of a chimney breast. Cushions on a dark sofa, where Copper against charcoal does a great deal for very little cloth. We would keep the walls deep and matt so the fabric is the only thing reflecting. Order a sample to see it in your own light.

Have it interlined. The lustre in a viscose-rich cloth only reads properly with enough weight behind it to hold a deep fold, and a bump interlining does that. With no repeat to match there is no wastage in the cutting, so quantities are drop plus hems. Ask your curtain maker to cut every drop running the same way up the piece, because a lustrous weave looks like two colours if one drop is reversed. Press from the back, on a cool iron.

• Composition: 45% PL 21% VI 20% LI 14% PC
• Width: 135 cm
• Pattern repeat: None
• Suitable for: Curtains, blinds, cushions
• Care: Dry clean recommended
• Collection: Isoku, Black Edition
• Colourways: 5 (Copper, Silt, Soft Gold, Plaster, Jadeite)