Kassia St Clair on the myth and magic behind the most lustrous of fabrics – and how to bring its luxury to a modern interior.

For centuries, fabrics have been more than just materials for clothing—they have symbolised status, wealth and artistry.

But that April, a fiscally conscious legislator from Wisconsin skewered the research with a “Golden Fleece Award,” the second ever, designed to he bestowed monthly upon the agency responsible for “the ...