Let there be light

Traditionally an evening fabric, shantung silk (originally produced in Shantung in China) is everywhere this summer. It's not always silk either, as the Marks & Spencer shirt shows. Shantung has an uneven texture, almost like pulled threads - it is the uneven yarns it is woven with that produce this irregularity. Every designer showed it last October (when the spring/summer collections were shown) from Milan to New York, and shantung's quiet sheen adds a little excitement to the otherwise simple shapes it is generally seen in.

ABOVE: lime shantung safari jacket, pounds 99, matching hipster trousers, pounds 49.99, Kookai branches, tel: 0171 937 4411. Silver neck ring, pounds 210, Jacqueline Rabun from Jess James, 3 Newburgh St, London W1. Enquiries: 0171 221 9820.

MAIN PICTURE, LEFT: pale turquoise shantung polyester shirt, pounds 25 from selected branches of Marks & Spencer, tel: 0171 935 4422. Beige check shantung trousers, pounds 75, French Connection, 249 Regent Street, London W1 and branches, tel: 0171 580 2507. Turquoise silk scarf, pounds 2.95, John Lewis branches nationwide, tel: 0171 629 7711.

INSET, LEFT: lime embroidered shantung shirt, pounds 199, Nicole Farhi, 158 New Bond Street, London W1 and branches, tel: 0171 499 8368. Pink shantung capri pants, pounds 80, Whistles, 27 Sloane Square, London SW1 and branches nationwide, tel: 0171 730 9819. Silver double wire ring, pounds 126, Jacqueline Rabun from Jess James, as before. Lime suede mules, pounds 95.50, Russell & Bromley, 24/25 New Bond Street, London W1 and branches nationwide, tel: 0171 629 6903.

BELOW: bronze shantung silk shirt dress, pounds 39.99, Hennes, 261/271 Regent Street, London W1, tel: 0171 255 2031. Silver large cube on wire choker, pounds 182, Jacqueline Rabun, from Jess James, as before.