Boski - the finest of silks - has long been a staple of a gentleman's wardrobe in the subcontinent.

Silk was first produced in Neolithic China from the filaments of the cocoon of the silk worm. As China's most important export for much of its history, the material gave its name to the great trading network the Silk Road, which connected East Asia to Europe, India, and Africa.

Interestingly, recent evidence suggests that the Indus Valley civilization in the north of the Indian subcontinent was also making silk contemporary with the Neolithic Chinese. Over time, exquisitely spun silk - or Boski - robes became a status symbol and helped distinguish officials and courtiers from other classes. Boski silk became so varied and refined that a whole connoisseurship developed around the material, and continues to do so to today.