Brocade's legacy of high fashion nearly faded away in old China

Models show cheongsams made of Songjin brocade. [File photo/China Daily]

It's silk fit for royalty — literally.

China's "crown of brocades" was used to fashion the wedding dresses of Kate Middleton and Princess Diana.

Wujiang Dingsheng Silk Co also designed the attire for world leaders at last year's APEC meeting in Beijing. It claims it beat out 400 competitors for the work.

You can buy the wallet like the one gifted to one of US President Barack Obama's daughters at the company's China Song Brocade Culture Park's gift shop in Suzhou, Jiangsu province. The slip features pink flowers stitched over red geometric designs.

The shop also offers dresses, shirts, scarves and handbags from the company's Saint Joy brand.

Models shows Songjin brocade-made attire in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, April 11, 2015. [Photo/Asianewsphoto]

But while the company that clothes and accessorizes world leaders and their families last year doubled sales to 35 million yuan ($5.5 million), and expects to double sales again in 2016, its empire is built upon a folk art that survived on life support for centuries.

Song brocade was almost forgotten during the upheavals of China's last two dynasties. It's said there were just 12 looms weaving it when New China was founded.

Listed as a national-level intangible cultural heritage in 2009, song brocade from Suzhou is characterized by bright colors, exquisite patterns and soft textures.

The culture park's centerpiece is a two-story loom with an elderly master working below and her two apprentices steering 8,000 threads into place 10 meters above her.

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