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A twilly is a silk ribbon – 83cm by 6cm – that can be worn in many different ways.
Use one as a hairband or neckband. As a snazzy bracelet. As a bag or rucksack accessory. As an emergency tie. Or maybe if it gets really grizzly out there, a tourniquet! (no we haven't tried nor do we wish to!)
Our part of the Peak District enjoys a rich silk heritage dating back to the 1600s. A damp climate and the presence of fast-flowing Peak District rivers to power water-driven mills enabled the silk industry to flourish in Macclesfield and adjoining towns. While many of the mills survive repurposed, the industry has now largely left.
Our twillies are manufactured in the shadow of the iconic Shutlingsloe, a towering gritstone hill visible for miles around.
At SK11 we've hiked most of the Peak District. And some. We love it here, our part of the Peak District is rugged and sparsely populated as it rises steeply from the Cheshire Plain. The colliding clouds as they meet the Peaks and rise over the hills makes for some interesting (read wet and windy) and inspiring weather.
We've tested a lot of kit, sometimes the conditions have been challenging, to say the least. There's a lot of nice kit around. But not a lot of luxury. So we came up with the idea of a locally made silk twilly as a versatile luxury item to remind us of the heritage of our part of the Peak District, for use in the Peaks and afar.
