Yul d’UZ (“yulduz” is “star” in Uzbek) designs women’s outerwear using a traditional, handmade Central Asian material called ikat. Ikat is a handwoven silk and cotton fabric commonly worn in the form of traditional dress by women in the founder’s home country of Uzbekistan.

Ikat fa brics are made by master craftsmen in Uzbekistan in Fergana Valley whose families have employed the same techniques for generations. Ikat is a dyeing technique in which traditional patterns are formed by binding individual threads or bundles of threads (ikat means “to bind” in the Indonesian language) with a tight wrapping to create a desired design. This material is made either from pure silk or from a combination of cotton and silk. The versatile ikat fabrics stay cool in the summer and maintain warmth in the winter.

Uzbek silk fabrics have their own names; shoi, khan-atlas, atlas, and podshokhi; and are produced from pure silk. Materials made combining cotton weft (horizontal threads) and silk warp (vertical threads) are called adras, bekasab, pasma, banoras. The patterns for both of these fabrics are often named after the shapes they resemble. Some of the most widespread ornaments used to create such traditional patterns include: “bodom” – almond, “darakht” – tree, “anor” – pomegranate, “oy” – the moon, “kapalak” – butterfly, and “chayon” – scorpion.

When a seamstress cuts the fabric to make clothes two jackets made of the same material will have different fragments of the material in front, on the back or on the sleeves of the clothes. This makes the pattern and design of each jacket or vest absolutely unique.

Yul d’UZ currently creates long fitted jackets, short fitted jackets, short fitted vests, long warm quilted jackets, short warm quilted jackets, and silk scarves.

The modern design of Yul d’UZ’s jackets and vests, combined with colors and patterns from the ancient Silk Road, provides women with the opportunity to be elegant and stylish, while sharing in unique, centuries-old traditions from Central Asia. Yul d’UZ’s clients will know that the coat they are wearing is one of a kind, and will be able to share the history of the material when these bright clothes inevitable cause friends, family, acquaintances, colleagues, and even strangers to stop and admire.