International fashion houses look to Sudbury, Suffolk the modern day silk weaving region of England for their finest silks. Oddly or not, few have heard of Vanners or Stephen Walters, but collectively their company's are responsible for consistently producing the finest woven silk fabrics in the world. Both share the resources of Sudbury a small English country town and give back by directly employing over 600 local inhabitants and many small businesses are dependant indirectly.

Today the buzz words in fashion, "environmentally friendly, ethical and sustainable" quietly Vanners and Walters are achieving all. Their industries are export driven, based on small order quantities and bespoke, 70% of all fabrics make their way to America, Japan and Europe ending up in some of the most famous fashion houses in the world. Renowned brand names, the Savile Row tailors who rely on locally produced silks for their designer ties, scarves, handkerchiefs and pocket squares help sustain an age old industry in Sudbury. Because there out put is geared toward quality and not mass then supply and demand are kept in balance and so is the environment. And ethics are kept in check, there is no question.

Vanners and Stephen Walters make the designers work easier, due to their extensive archives stretching back hundreds of years. Here you'll find on record the entire original school tie designs and colours for every imaginable college and university. The same goes for military ties.

The English silk weaving history is not significant in years but richly textured began only a few hundred years ago when Huguenots, French and Flemish Protestants fled their own countries because of religious persecution. There were two main waves of Huguenot migration - in the latter half of the sixteenth century and towards the end of the seventeenth century. In all, over 200,000 Huguenots fled to the UK and Netherlands.

Huguenot migrants possessed considerable knowledge of the textiles industries -especially silk-making. The Courtauld family established a prospering silk industry at Braintree, Essex, while Huguenot weavers also concentrated in the Spitalfields area of London. Lewis (Or Louis) Paul invented the method of roller spinning that was later developed by Richard Arkwright to such great effect. His invention coincided with the industrial revolution and made a significant contribution to the development of silk weaving in England. He developed his mills across the country, as far north as Scotland. At the time of his death in 1792 he had amassed £500,000 = $1,000.000.

Now hundreds of metres of finely woven silks produced to specific design specifications for many highly respected brand names make their way to Basildon Essex, a small town about an hour and half south east of Sudbury, Suffolk. There we find another traditional manufacturer surviving. The Barbara-Anne Company has been making silk ties for two generations. Thomas Pink, Duchamp, Hacket, Patrick McMurrayand many more place trust in their expertise. The choice of make is yours from handmade with the highest specifications possible, or a simple, economical machine made. The final journey, England's modern silk route, from fabric to high fashion houses, from Sudbury to Basildon, to the rest of the world.