A lightweight, sheer fabric with a relatively smooth surface, made from silk or other fibers.
Ninon is a sheer cloth of silk, rayon or nylon. Brentano’s textile glossary allows a range of constructions, from tight, smooth weaves to open, lacy ones; a printed silk ninon dress fabric made by Stehli Silks between 1925 and 1930, now at the V&A, is recorded as a plain weave. The name does not fix the fiber; unlike organdy, it is not defined by cotton or by a stiff finish.
An evening dress by Norman Hartnell of about 1937, also at the V&A, layers pale pink silk ninon over yellow silk ninon in semi-floating panels, with the ninon edges finished by hand.
In job listings
The word is rare in current listings. In houses with a silk department, its roles cover product development for women’s and men’s silk collections, prototype tracking, purchasing from suppliers and the commercial management of the collections. See current silk roles.
