Le Noeud Papillon Of Sydney - For Lovers Of Bow Ties

Worry Beads Of Distinction From Le Noeud Papillon Using Gemstones - Hand-Made In Our Sydney Studio

2026-10-21T11:01:52.636+11:00

New Worry Beads Or Komboloi Have Now Been Loaded At Le Noeud Papillon - Hand Made In Our Sydney Studio In Vaucluse - See Them At WWW.LENOEUDPAPILLON.COM

PRODUCT DETAILS

Hades Worry Beads - Smokey Quartz, Strawberry Quartz

FEATURES

100% Made In Australia
Stones Are Assorted
Finished With Bead Ends
21 Stones
Hand Made

EDITOR'S NOTES:

Please do not buy these without reaching out first to confirm stones. +61413140994

Greek worry beads, or komboloi (κομπολόι), often follow traditional patterns in the number of beads, but there’s no strict religious or spiritual requirement as in prayer beads like the komboskini used by monks. However, there are some common conventions:

Typical Number of Beads:

Often 17, 21, or 23 beads on a string.
Sometimes 33 beads, inspired by religious symbolism (e.g., age of Christ), but this is less common for casual worry beads.
Always an odd number (more on that below).
Many include one fixed bead near the shield/komboskilo (the separator or weight bead) that is not counted.

Why an Odd Number?

The use of an odd number of beads is intentional because:

It allows for a rhythmic, back-and-forth motion when flipping or playing with the beads.
Odd numbers prevent symmetry, creating a more dynamic feel that contributes to the meditative or stress-relieving function.
Some also say it reflects an ancient Greek appreciation for asymmetry in art and design.

Purpose and Evolution:

Originally derived from prayer beads (like komboskini used in Orthodox Christianity), but komboloi are secular and mostly used for relaxation, boredom, or even social signalling.
Over time, the komboloi became a cultural object, often beautifully crafted from materials like amber, coral, wood, or resin.

The World's Best Bow Ties? Well, We Have You To Thank For That

2026-10-09T13:47:30.980+11:00

Whether or not it is true, it is our customer's word of encouragement and praise that seem to have got us to the top of AI listings and for that we are so grateful. Come and see the new bow ties www.lenoeudpapillon.com

The New Cranbrook Silk Scarf And Our New Scents Going Out

2026-09-26T15:53:19.145+10:00

We are heading towards the final code and clearing off September. This has been a big week for me, internally, externally.

I didn’t mention it till Wednesday but the headmistress of my old school, Cranbrook, asked me if I would like to make them a silk scarf. It was such a privilege, and the headmistress, Dr Anne Johnstone, was very pleased with the result, we took the Cranbrook rugby logo of C and S and placed it in a diamond pattern. The result was slightly Gucci-esque but really it had it’s own personality and with the deep rich navy and red finished with a heming line border in red, it became its own. Took a while for us to get it right, the motto of the school, ESSE QUAM VIDERI, to be rather than to seem to be, it was problematic getting resolution, we had to find the Goldilocks size. The end result and the samples, all of it I gave to Cranbrook as a gift as I really had done nothing at all for my old school over the years, and I was just pleased that my skill set could be useful to them. In the end they placed an order with us but the magic was in the process of going through their design files criteria and working to something that would result in a scarf I am happy to wear as a four in hand myself, the red isn’t overpowering and the navy fits in with so much navy that I wear these days.

Then later in the week Peta Davidson from Treats By Pete dropped off the new cookies for Studio visitors and VIPs which feature our scarves printed on the cookies. And you know what, they taste delicious. I don’t like the word delicious to be honest. I was reading my old journals this past week and every time I read the word I cringed. I am coming to terms with it. I wonder why some words make me cringe.

Later in the week owing to a wonderful order I decided to buy you people two new perfumes to use in your parcels. My God, Creed is so expensive! I bought the very new Iris Debonair and then I lost it when I put my nose to Wild Vetiver but to be honest, over the ensuing days I find the Wild Vetiver too pungent, small doses are required, but it has a lovely linger to it and seems to be a stayer, you pick it up in your clothes over the days after.

I will leave my little post from Instagram about it below. Iris is one of those ingredients I make by hand in the Studio, but its a really sticky substance and so despite being so fresh and wonderful, I fear spraying it on the silks when heading out.

Anyway, I am here if you need me, be ready for the final day. Still so many little treasures are about to get realised and more are arriving next week.

The perfume of aristocrats. It has an unusual place in the history of perfume. The iris we refer to in perfume doesn’t come from the iris flower, it comes from the root, the rhizome, it takes time to cultivate, then it needs to be harvest, peeled, dry aged, then distilled into orris butter. And in this comes to the compounds of ironies, the gold of it all, fine iris, that powdery, cool, violet, wood, slightly earthy. I remember the first great iris I smelled, in the Parisian perfume house of Serge Leutens, a limited edition I coveted, afraid to use, and when it was gone I had no idea how to replace it, only I did once I started making my own perfume. The crème de la crème of this is iris pallida, that scent that is associated with the Florentines, with Catherine De Medici, who, through marriage, took it to France when she married King Henry II in 1533. It’s so famous as an ingredient that it marks a great deal of Florentine heraldry. And it is the basis for the fleur-de-lis. At Versailles is was championed by Louis XIV and by Marie Antoinette. Look, I didn’t want to do it, but it had to be done, we needed to give you something to look forward to in your next parcels. As for the Vetiver, and Indian root plant, well, it’s very fetching, the original was exceptional, this wild one is … much more jungle sweet. Me likey. Keep and eye out in your parcels. Thank you to my customer who indirectly paid for it.

There Is A Sale On Today For The End Of The Month At Le Noeud Papillon

2026-08-31T08:52:05.825+10:00

Come and see what is on sale today at www.lenoeudpapillon.com

2026 Has Been A Big Year Already And We Still Have Another Quarter Left

2026-08-28T10:46:04.423+10:00

The beauty of this business is in watching our products go from an idea into a reality and from a reality into being on you, the customer, watching Le Noeud Papillon start with bow ties, but now with so many other products on offer and at each turn the magic is when you send us back your photos so we can see how you used them in your life. This is a remarkable reward for me, personally, and, I suppose, for you also. Keep sending in your photos, it makes my job so much more interesting.

www.lenoeudpapillon.com

There Is An End Of Month Sale Coming At Le Noeud Papillon Of Sydney

2026-08-28T10:40:10.823+10:00

It is time to load up your baskets because we are offloading all that didn't sell in August on the website on the 31st August at 8am ending at midnight with 70 to 80% OFF. Get familiar now by logging onto www.lenoeudpapillon.com

Farewell Charvet As It Was And Thank You Jean-Claude For Your Time

2026-07-07T13:28:25.264+10:00

This will be a long winded email so before I begin, let me tell you some immediate news. The design a silk scarf competition is now open with entries closing off September 1st.

Have you ever wanted to see your art as a piece of wearable silk? Now is the time to get cracking. And we will send you one of your scarves once printed along with 1000 aud to wired to your account. You can wear it as a scarf in a myriad of ways, you can use it as a top (I suggest for ladies), as headwear, as a face mask in snow and dust. Or, you can frame it as I sometimes do and mount it to the wall. The choices are yours.

The criteria, anything you want to submit by design but the artwork needs to be 90 x 90cm and loaded into a PDF, AI or PSD file for us to be able to print it. And when it comes to PSD we will have to assess the file quality - some of you will be able to produce therefore in Procreate or Adobe Fresco but do some research before you begin.

When I started this business I had wanted to be like Chateau Mouton Rothschild, supporting artists each year with collaborations, but over the years it wasn’t really possible for us to produce something akin to a wine label so instead we have run portrait competitions and now we move to designing silk scarves. I love to support and collaborate with artists. I have a limited view of the world and we have so many customers from around the world and have collaborated with illustrators around the world too. Like Clementine Chambon who, when I met her, was working for Marc Newson in Paris (designer of the much debated Ferrari Luce) and subsequently went out on her own.

It has been such a pleasure to collaborate with artists and illustrators and to see the wonderful portraits that have been submitted.

In other news, I just arrived back from Broome in Western Australia. The tidal terrain of red and rich earth and sea was a real eye opener, plus seeing the sun set over the ocean instead of rising as on the East Coast. It is wild there, I didn’t see a crocodile but there were plenty of sharks from tigers to reef and though I didn’t see a croc they were around, so leaving the boat when mud crabbing in the creeks was a no no. The town seems to be booming despite the rest of the country going belly up. It is a fascinating town where everyone seems to have an SUV, a trailer and a boat. Never seen so many and as the sun set on Cable Beach seeing so many vehicles decamp on the beach for an evening drink and watching the sunset was a real treat.

Then I have said as much on my Instagram, I am saddened to hear that Charvet has been bought by Chanel. This is to my mind the most historically significant menswear brand in the world and one of those independents that wasn’t answering to shareholders, that hadn’t succumbed to globalisation and a store in every major city. My pattern still sits there and I fondly recall when sitting with Jean-Claude in his office overlooking the Place Vendome and the Ritz Carlton opposite his fine honey timber walls, statues of jaguars, his coffee table and his book of designs here his hand had sketched meticulous designs. And, I recall the visit to his workroom on the 6th floor, the wall of whites in the shirting department and the general mist in my eyes when I glimpsed his window displays each time.

SEE MY FIRST FITTING HERE

The last time we met two Januaries ago for lunch he scolded me as we walked out the door for lunch, I had posted a photo of him he didn’t like, but we smoothed it over and he bought me lunch and we spoke of how small my business was but that I enjoyed what I did and that was enough for me. Maybe one day I will be a Charvet, but for the moment, given where everything is at, maybe not. I am on the wrong side of the world but I feel it has it’s advantages, rents are lower and there is less pressure and more creative freedom to some extent. I often sent him samples of new products I made and most often received a lovely email back such as I got when I sent him some of my worry beads when I first started making them.

I doubt very much when the Wertheimers take over that it will look and feel like the old guard that it was, will they try to place a store in Ginza, in Manhattan ? I hope not. The pilgrimage of the visit to the Place Vendome was half the joy of it all. A world of silk, a world of shirting. The first bespoke shirt I have from them was when I was a fat boy, so it is baggy now, but I have come to love that, a club collar, a white self polka dot, a particular turned back cuff with mother of pearl buttons after I asked Jean Claude to find me his most unique cuff. May it last my whole life.

Do you know what the funny thing is, I first learned the word of nipple in French, teton, whilst I was having that first fitting with my friend Corinne De Conti filming it all. I will hopefully post that up on Instagram if I can find the videos. Sad sad sad. The end of an era.

At least there might be some synergies as Coco Chanel used to be enamoured with Boy Capel’s Charvet perfume and shirts, so much so that she fashioned the Chanel No 5 bottle of it after Capel’s untimely death and, so it is said, her obsession with smelling his perfume to preserve his memory, but feel free to fact check me.

So, I have lost a hero, someone to aspire to be, a legacy I may never achieve. But thanks to you guys, I have made it to where I am so far, and maybe I will have a future. I don’t presume to know what will become of me. But, even if I don’t make it, I have, or I feel I have, achieved a lot so far.

Talk soon.

Notes On Currango 2026

2026-05-16T11:58:13.103+10:00

Now, where do I begin. I spent a few days in the Snowy Mountains this week in a remote part of the Kosciusko National Park at a place called Currango. Cold nights in a homestead that has no heating other than by fire, where the stove top is by timber fire, where we boil water in a huge pot with a spout, where the shower is a can you raise by rope after boiling the water first. The only luxury is two flushing toilets.

I have my city friends but over the years I have come to have my friends in the Snowys. It started when a woman 14 years my senior seduced me one afternoon in a mountain restaurant and the six months we spent on and off again both excited me and concurrently broke me at the end of it. But in the process I met so many people from the mountain, her friends to begin with, and from there I branched out and I have not looked back.

These days I get invited out on one of their annual trips, something so special, something so rustic and against the digital age that it is as close to camping as one might get but with a roof over your head.

My friend Jodie leads the group and she is a most excellent chef and prepares so much great food and wine prior to heading out there that we eat and drink like kings and queens, play backgammon, sleep, read books, eat some more cheese, play some more backgammon. In the evenings a fire pit not 20 metres away, bordered by logs to sit on, accompanied by those outdoor collapsible camping chairs, serves as a pre-dinner gathering to drink and occasionally I bring some light edibles and so begins the sunset with some music over a small speaker playing classics - anything from Lou Reed to Arlo Guthrie.

One of their greatest joys of becoming closer to these people over the years is watching them all, especially the horse riders, adopt our silk scarves. In the beginning only one friend, Tony, was the early adopter and as you may know we made a scarf design dedicated to him after he lost his horse Bob.

These days scarves are worn by most of the riders and this year I got on my first horse with them. Normally I was relegated to cycling only because my weight, so said Tony, would break his horse until I came under 100 kilos - thank you Mounjaro. So now, mounting my steed at the old 1850’s homestead I took a trail ride with 9 other riders as we moved along the thick grasses of the plain, crossing brooks and embankments, navigating between scrub and thickets as we headed across varying country.

And at night, when group moved from sunset drinks into the main house, the room was prepared, backgammon boards moved, the communal puzzle placed off to the side, and the table was set for a most excellent meal, the conversation not tempered by anyone fact checking each other on AI, general merriment, people with genuine stories, no pretence. I am lucky to have these people in my life, even if we don’t spend that much time together, I am the outsider, to be included is a big privilege.

And so, during these days as they passed I first indulged in a bigger than Ben Hur novel called Belle Seigneur, but when I got stuck on pages boring me with bureaucracy I turned my attention to my second book, The Count Of Monte Cristo. My God, I was turning those pages and looking forward to bed time when under a sleeping bag I set my pillow as high as I could, turned on my red light on my head torch and read until I could read no more.

I left the mountains a little lighter, looking forward to my work more. I have been in a funk to some degree. I had a racy year last year, a lot of movement, a lot of travel. This year seems far more sobering. Country life seems to be good for sobering up.

I have an interesting life, between town and country, from having lunch when I am in Paris with Jean-Claude from Charvet, to boiling a billy over a campfire to make tea, they are big contrasts. And so are my clothes that accompany me, from a NIDA event last week where I wore a suit, shirt, bow tie, with a white cashmere overcoat, to the cashmere cap, gilet, scarf and jeans I wore on my ride across the plains of Snowy country.

And that’s all I have for you today.

Talk soon.

More 2026 Yuzen Silks Have Arrived At Le Noeud Papillon

2026-04-15T15:41:12.386+10:00

Le Noeud Papillon 2026 Japanese Yuzen Silks Arrive

2026-04-13T09:35:00.006+10:00

www.lenoeudpapillon.com

Nobu Miyake And The Pursuit Of Japanese Artisans - Notes On Japan

2026-04-07T08:30:00.009+10:00

Against my Japanese craftsmen counterparts, as an Australian visiting Japan I feel like a bull in a fine China shop. They are meticulous and take pride in their work that surpasses anything I have seen elsewhere, and that includes my beloved Italians, who I find creative, inspirational and erudite in the realm of fabrics and fabrication. My tour to Japan was to document artisans, open up supplies to Japanese Yuzen silk, and to have a ski at the end. I did all things successfully.

I don’t talk much about my private life, but it was a series of interludes with my girlfriend at the time. She had wanted out in September, I believe they call it a discard. We tried again, we argued again, she said she wasn’t stopping me living my life, we took time off again and during that period I began to think maybe she was right. I must not stop living my life. In that space I chose my path: Japan, artisans, food, culture, immersion. I booked it. I have no regrets looking back. She was right, you have to follow your path, even if it diverges. Such is life. It hurts, but in many ways it frees you up.

We had again fought the night before our respective departures. I got on my flight with a heavy heart but as I flew in over Tokyo and looked at the mountains below I began to feel a little lighter, not a lot, but forward momentum and meaning and purpose usually help soothe things to an extent.

I spent a few days in Tokyo in a pensive state and in my hotel room I looked at all my AI responses to finding artisans in Kyoto. I jumped on a bullet train and after unloading at the Hilton, a very architecturally beautiful hotel, I went and rented a bicycle. My first stop was to a fabric workshop named Marumasu Nishimuraya where I sat in a class doing stencils and graduated dyes and paints onto base cloth (they had run out of silk) to see how it was done. A great experience, and Saskia, a Dutch lady, spoke perfect English and she was the first person I documented in the arts and crafts there.

I followed on by riding around Kyoto looking for silk producers but I realised it would require more work. Saskia had said to try the Teramachi mall to begin with, a shop called Suzaku, she said, specialised in great vintage kimonos. It had nothing I was looking for, the select beautiful stuff I was chasing in the world of yuzen, it wasn’t there, specifically furisode and homongi, the first being coming-of-age kimonos, the second being bridal.

Kyoto, if you don’t already know, was founded by Emperor Kanmu in 794, a strict grid-like city fashioned off the greatest said city of the day, Chang’an, the capital at the time of Tang China. And through it runs the Duck River, and it is skirted by mountains. It’s overrun by tourists all year long but February seemed okay if you stayed away from the traps like the Golden Pavilion or the Bamboo Forest. Look, I did most of them, and the Golden Pavilion at sunset, having ridden my e-bike to the outskirts of Kyoto, was a splendid experience. I can see myself riding along the river bank, the water gently moving over intermittent cascades and patches of reeds stretching out to the centre of the river, clouds hanging in the sky and the mountains in the far distance with no snow on them.

My translator Joni arrived on bullet train from Tokyo. He had what I assumed was a gravelly Japanese voice but upon exiting the rented Toyota he presented as a Sephardi Jew, to my surprise, and had a story about the war and the family arriving in Tokyo and his being sent off to boarding school in India with a dog and a maid. A very interesting character to say the least.

Our first stop together was Matsuoka, who were masters in Shibori and had a kimono display as well as all the Yuzen silks one would ever want, but it was my first time experiencing the true price of these gems. They were starting at 8k AUD and working their way up from there. I pulled the pin on one, it’s due to be paid for in April.

The day before I had visited Chiso, a famed Kyoto silk company. They had a stunning exhibition on their 2nd floor of historic Chiso kimonos. The company had been running continuously since 1555, which blew me away since I had thought the old Italian wool companies like Piacenza and Vitale Barberis Canonico were the oldest around. No such thing. These companies, including Hosoo that I visited with Joni, a 12th generation family business, were proper institutions. And I was privileged to get a walk-through on both, one by Google Translate, the other with Joni. Joni was some strange part of Judaism so when we stopped for lunch he had to order very specific food. He didn’t eat meat for one, but there were other criteria to be met.

With Chiso I experienced a vibrancy of silk and that is where I came to see these 25k AUD kimonos, the ones of the highest grade, the silk I was chasing, the stunning details, the hand embroidery, the kinsai gold leaf details. They were not going to let me into their workroom on the 6th floor but it wasn’t a big deal as a couple of days later I was in Nobu’s workroom, which I will mention later, and he had previously been one of Chiso’s master kimono silk makers. Just as a side note here, and it needs mentioning, although Chiso makes all their products in house, the Japanese silk industry does not run in the main like Chiso, and even with Chiso I never found out whether they wove their own tanmono rolls. The silk textiles industry in the main is made up of tanmono weavers (the base cloth on 40cm rolls x 17 metres), the dye houses, the printers, the weavers, the embroiderers and the makers. And within each of those different parts there are specialists involved. In the case of Tatsamura, mentioned next, they show on one diagram how there are up to 50 different companies and people involved in any given finished product from silk art to obe.

We managed to secure an appointment later in the afternoon with Amane Tatsamura, one of Japan’s most revered hand weavers of silk, and there my eyes really opened up because, having not been able to see the tanmono being woven, my next best alternative was seeing it being hand-woven in ancient jacquard looms made of timber that clanked away in an otherwise quiet part of town, towards the Golden Pavilion, I believe in the Nishijin District. Hmm, so many facts to get right.

Joni translated but shooshed me on many occasions. I still hadn’t learned how the Japanese roll, the patience, the clarity, the grace about these people. It was amazing and such a contrast to my wanting to get to the bottom of it ASAP so I could report back to my customers. There were canvases hand done for companies like a logistics company whose logo was a phoenix, but they were commissioned by museums, governments and institutions all around the world for their unique hand-woven creations. At the very end they showed me a little boutique that ran off their education room where I found silks on the roll that were the designs of Tatsamura, woven locally in Kyoto. I bought some and upon returning we placed some of them as bow ties on the website. One customer was enthralled, a local Sydney man, he bothered to turn up and knock on the door asking if we had any other colourways, but the selection was limited and we had no intention of making more. That’s part of our charm with those one-offs we put on the website, once they are gone they are gone.

At each turn we took videos, the silk art, the explanations of each work, the looms, the obe being woven, the explanation that Japanese textiles traders had travelled to France and had brought back the technology then of the jacquard weaving machines. Again, and not to put myself down, but when you see the level of intricacy involved, the amount of time and patience that goes into their work, the level of detail and how many hands were involved in the process, it makes what I do seem so pedestrian. Nonetheless, they were impressed with what I did and there was a mutual respect all around, no matter who we bumped into. The same could be said of Hosoo, whose lineage alone was so impressive, but their core difference was that they had reworked obe looms to make interior and fashion textiles and both their store and their immersive video experience upstairs were a pleasure to see, from beautiful overcoats to cushions and bedspreads, it was exceptional stuff. Only the construction was too thick for us to make bow ties so instead we offered to help them find fabric stores in Australia and have since been in contact over WhatsApp. It is worth seeing their store in Kyoto if not just for the adobe concrete building they purposefully designed, such amazing formwork, so modern minimalist. Their fabrics are used by some of the most reputable houses across Europe but I can’t mention who, suffice to say you would know their names.

I am pausing here to smoke my pipe I bought in Ginza with some Davidoff tobacco. I am still in that pensive mode. The sky is grey outside over the harbour. It is the perfect day to pen this. She left me in a very funny way but I don’t wish to say much more. I am trying my best to learn to contain myself to preserve the good parts.

Joni and I finished the evening by having a drink in the top floor bar of a hotel not far from the Hokan-ji Temple, then followed by a set menu at Il Ghiottone, a restaurant that Joni prefers in Kyoto and where he often brings the King of Italy when he is in town. Joni seems to know a lot of people from a lot of places and especially in the arts community. It was a great dinner and a nice way to cap off the evening. I walked back to my hotel, crossing the Duck River and up the canal, passing all those tiny little eateries that make you wonder how they turn a profit, but for which the Japanese don’t seem to be caring whether they do or don’t. All of them taking pride in their food. Across the laneway outside the lobby of the Hilton there was a small izakaya. I had made a point of having a beer there each night before or after my activities. I stopped in there, the bar owner had taken a shining to me. He was amusing to watch. Portly, infectious laugh. A nice little team. Nothing over the top, it just felt homely. I was still ruminating over everything that had happened. It sat in the back of my mind after the stimulation of the day wore off. I knew it would pass, my question to myself was for how long would it upset me, and what did my life look like moving forward. We just have to keep moving.

The next day was a big win for me, I secured a meet with Nobu Miyake. I was on my own again. I took a taxi way too early, worried about the location sent to my phone by my fixer. I arrived in the outskirts of Kyoto with no bearings. To give you an indication, there was a train line, no shops you might recognise, all of them closed, very few vending machines, buildings which looked similar, a park where children played soccer, the sky was grey, there wasn’t a Lawson or 7/11 for 600 metres, the nearest ramen shop was closed and 2km away. I walked to the 7/11 as I had time, I ate one of those pieces of spicy fried chicken and washed it down with a Coke Zero, smoked on my new e-cigarette. I don’t know if I was miserable or not, but I certainly didn’t feel chipper.

When Nobu received me in the early afternoon I was happy to be back into discovery mode and I pulled out my gyro from DJI, unloaded my backpack and stood in front of Nobu, sporting jeans, crocs, a Japanese styled robe tied off to the side and a zipper fleece beneath. He was bald, 58, an open face but perhaps slightly cautious and he began to tell me he had learned from a master, worked at Chiso and had done 40 years of kimono making. He was supported in his business by his wife Satomi and his son Hiromu. Nobu is famous, predominantly known for his “ichikake” kimono silk which is for wedding celebrations. His elaborate designs include a proprietary technique to inlay mother of pearl to the silk, perhaps inlay is incorrect, it is affixed with a resin and bordered by embroidery.

His workroom begins with tanmono rolls, approximately 17 metres per roll, which are purchased from local dealers. There are, from my knowledge, no kimono makers that are vertically integrated, instead it is a collaboration between weavers, dyers, printers and garment makers, with some having one or more processes in house but none having the whole process in one house. In Nobu’s workroom the long room is filled with three benches, of which two were active on the day. One for Hiromu, who prepares the tanmono rolls with dyes and base paints, the second for the stencilling (Satomi’s role using a precise cutting blade to cut the blue film which outlines the stencils), and the gold kinsai techniques that are deployed by Nobu.

The process is painstaking and one kimono takes about 28 days to produce, but that time frame changes depending on the complexity of the work. Nobu has been commissioned by wealthy Japanese families, celebrities and movie studios to produce unique pieces that don’t just include kimonos, he also spends time working on streetwear designs and collaborations which, as we sat down, he showed me a lips and tongue logo - instantly recognisable - he was working on a kimono for Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones. He had to be a little tight-lipped about it but the work is now finished and documented so it can be talked of now.

Part of my tour, admittedly I was charged for the experience, was that Nobu sat down with me to show me how to apply gold leaf and gold dust to graduate a flower on a silk. I had always wanted to know how the gold leaf rarely came off and as I watched him apply it I felt a sigh of relief. Between watching Satomi prepare the stencil cuts for the gold and graduated paint and dye to be applied, watching Hiromu lay down the base black for the heavier stencil and gold pieces that I was so familiar cutting, and then seeing Nobu apply gold leaf and dust, it was coming together, piecing the puzzle of what I had stumbled upon nearly 10 years ago now when I first began cutting it into bow ties. It was a bucket list thing.

She was also a bucket list thing. It came over me as I returned home in the taxi. I had known her since I was a kid. Had a little crush on her. For nearly 7 years I had been out in the wilderness, hadn’t wanted to engage in relationships, focus on my daughter, focus on my work. Whenever I skied an exotic place or trekked out into the open expanse of the Snowy Mountains on my ski tours, I always noted that my most romantic vistas were usually accompanied by some man next to me, my ski guide, a buddy, never a woman. She was a bucket list, really, genuinely. I was so happy, but as I looked back I saw some of the cracks. When we skied under the Matterhorn she didn’t care to stop, there were no great moments of affection, it wasn’t quite the Hollywood scene I had imagined. Someone had once said to me “nothing is as great or bad as you think it will be”. Nobu’s workroom was not in some glamorous part of Kyoto where they were all dressed like fancy watch makers, it was down a street that was non-descript and the workroom was as one would expect, a place where work gets done. In the end, my romance, it was beautiful, just like Nobu’s silks, but when you get it down to granular level, when you look back on those moments where you anticipated bliss, they weren’t what was anticipated. Instead, it was the small moments, when she hugged me on the way back to the hotel after dinner, when she let me wash her hair one night in Montenegro, 80s dancing for her to the sound of Alive And Kicking. It was never the high glamour parts, it was always the small moments of tenderness.

And onwards I went, from Kyoto to Hiroshima, then back to Tokyo, then Arai, Joetsu, Tokamachi, Shiga Kogen, an onsen in Niigata, then back to Tokyo … And of those I will talk about them later.

Le Noeud Papillon - New Models Trickle In For 2026 - www.lenoeudpapillon.com

2026-03-20T09:40:00.005+11:00

www.lenoeudpapillon.com

New Japanese silks including fresh yuzen and for the first time, silks woven in Kyoto by famed artisan Amane Tatsamura .

New Bow Ties Released On Le Noeud Papillon

2026-03-17T15:17:00.000+11:00

Come and see them www.lenoeudpapillon.com

New Promotion Le Noeud Papillon - The World's Best Black Bow Tie And Bow Tie Cufflinks - Live Now!

2026-01-19T09:03:00.001+11:00

The World's Best Black Bow Tie (According To Menswear Writers And Forums ) And A Matching Set Of Bow Tie Cufflinks - Live On The Website - www.lenoeudpapillon.com - limited stock available.

Google Gemini - The Super Computer Says We Are Number One As Of 2026 - The Best Bow Tie Maker In The World - Le Noeud Papillon

2026-01-16T08:44:00.004+11:00

Well are we ? After 18 years of defining and redefining how we make and shape bow ties I would like to think we finally have a grip on our work. Come and see the new arrivals next week on www.lenoeudpapillon.com

New James Bond Reference One Off Bow Ties Now Available At Le Noeud Papillon

2026-01-14T11:41:00.005+11:00

Come and see them www.lenoeudpapillon.com

New Arrivals At Le Noeud Papillon

2026-01-08T10:08:00.003+11:00

Shop now www.lenoeudpapillon.com

The Happiest Bow Ties On Earth - Come And Shop The Sale Stock At Le Noeud Papillon

2026-01-07T17:16:00.002+11:00

Shop now online www.lenoeudpapillon.com

Rare Silks And Rare Cuts - Now Loaded At Le Noeud Papillon

2026-01-03T16:09:00.002+11:00

Rare silks like this densely woven black grosgrain from one of the most reputable looms in the world, contrasted with our black satin silk, finished with rose gold hardware. Then a horizontal cut candy light blue ottoman weave silk in a diamond point or the topical leaves silk. All of them now on the website or they can be cut to order in the shape you most cherish. www.lenoeudpapillon.com

Silk Pyjamas And Hawaiian Shirts Coming Soon - Le Noeud Papillon Double Printed Silk On Superlative King Twill

2026-01-03T16:07:00.004+11:00

Why? Because we can. I have done so many silk scarves so this was a chance to have a foray into something else and the results kind of speak for themselves. However, we won't be selling them online so book the Studio to come and get fitted. +61413140994 to make a booking. See them on www.lenoeudpapillon.com

Why We Still Make Bow Ties ? Because It Was How We Started And It Matters That We Are Still Refining Our Craft All These Years Later - Le Noeud Papillon - The World's Best Bow Ties

2025-12-21T12:41:00.001+11:00

Why I Still Love To See A Le Noeud Papillon Neck Tie On Peter Overton

2025-12-21T12:35:00.003+11:00

The first news anchor we ever saw wearing our neck tie on the news was the later Peter Harvey with his inimitable voice. It was a big win. In fact, I believe he announced the lowest interest rates in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 after he was anchoring post Brian Henderson's retirement. Back then it was Anoushka Wood who was running wardrobe and I have to thank her for getting behind us.

Years later I have enjoyed a really good relationship subsequent anchor Peter Overton, who has by now worn so many of our neck ties on the news that I figure at some point we will make it to the National Archives or perhaps even to some wonderful film adaptation of a real life Australian crime story - if I am not mistaken he once read about the Epstein Files and of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump wearing our neck ties. For this I am very grateful. Peter and his wife are also friends, not in the traditional sense, we don't dine out together make parties... but we will often see each other at the Vaucluse shops and they are always warm and friendly and supportive.

So, big thank you to Peter Overton. May we continue to be able to serve you.

Closing Submissions Today For The Le Noeud Papillon Self Portrait Competition - Entries Close Midnight 21.12.2025

2025-12-21T12:34:00.001+11:00

As Far As Wedding Bow Ties Are Concerned - You Should Be Able To Rely On Us! Come And See At Le Noeud Papillon

2025-12-21T12:31:00.009+11:00

Michael flew up from Melbourne to see us. He was able glean enough from the website and through Whatsapp pictures and videos, but like many discerning men, he just wanted to be right in front of the product. And we understand that, it's just not that easy to choose the bow tie for your biggest day without having it on. So, as always, I encourage you, if you can make it, come visit the Studio by appointment. In the end Michael went for a Majestic Black, our best selling bow tie, but not before he checked out every other option just to make sure, and it was his call, we never push you towards one or the other though if you ask for our opinion we will offer it. +61413140994

More Worry Beads By Le Noeud Papillon But With Greek Mythology Story And Meaning

2025-11-05T10:32:00.001+11:00

So, today's foray is into Greek Mythology and finding stones to place together that being meaning to each set. Below are three examples:

Amethyst + Hematite – The Tempered Mind

Story: Dionysus (ecstasy) meets Ares (discipline). Legend says amethyst was born from Dionysus’ tears on clear quartz after sobering up from rage.

Symbolism: Wisdom restrained by order; ideal for those curbing impulsive passion to achieve mastery.

Aesthetic: Cool violet against metallic grey — calm intellect anchored by gravity.

Lapis Lazuli + Carnelian – The Oracle of Delphi

Story: Apollo’s fiery carnelian energy balanced by Athena’s lapis intellect — prophecy through clarity rather than frenzy.

Symbolism: Vision, eloquence, the courage to speak truth.

Aesthetic: Blue-gold with burnt orange — royal yet earthy, like the Pythia’s robes in flickering torchlight.

Obsidian + Carnelian – The Forge of Hephaestus

Story: Fire trapped in stone. Carnelian was worn by smiths and soldiers for courage; obsidian born of volcanic glass — creation through heat.
Symbolism: Transformation through adversity; power tempered by purpose.
Aesthetic: Deep gloss black with glowing ember orange — masculine, protective, alive.