Massimo Alba Rosy Cardigan

A cardigan made entirely of silk is a slightly contradictory object, and the contradiction is the point. Cardigans exist to add warmth. Silk conducts heat away from the body rather than trapping it, so a knitted silk cardigan adds a layer without adding temperature, which is precisely what you want over a dress in an air-conditioned room or on a Santa Fe evening in July when the sun goes and the air drops fifteen degrees in an hour.

Silk also drapes more heavily than any other fine fibre. It has weight without bulk, so the fabric falls in long lines rather than holding its shape, and the bell sleeve is the detail that uses that. A bell sleeve in wool is a shape imposed on the fibre. In silk it is simply what the fabric does when it is given room, which is why it moves the way it does. In black, the lustre is the whole story: silk is the only black that is not flat.

Summer evening layers for women are almost all cotton or linen, and both of them look like daytime. This is the only one we found that is genuinely light and genuinely dressed.

One hundred percent silk, made in Italy. Button closure, bell sleeves. Colour: Nero.

Knitted silk has weight and very little recovery, so it hangs close and long, and it will stretch a little across a day and return with rest. The bell sleeve is wide at the wrist and will move; it is not a sleeve for a task. Do not hang it: silk knit will lengthen from its own weight on a hanger.

Over the Nizza or a plain tee with the Lois trousers. Over the Jenny kaftan for evening. Buttoned to the top over nothing else, which is the version that uses the lustre.

Silk does not want machine washing, heat, or direct sun, all three of which dull the lustre that is the reason to own it. Hand wash cool with a silk detergent or have it cleaned, dry flat away from light, and store it folded. Our general care guidance covers the rest.

The Jenny Kaftan is the printed cotton and linen, the Lois Trousers are the heavy linen, the Bali Jacket in hemp is the jacket over them, and the Stole is the cotton and linen square. There is more on the house on the Massimo Alba designer page. Everything we carry from Massimo Alba is listed together.