Sharkskin

Sharkskin, or grisaille (from French gris, meaning grey) describes a specific woven or warp-knitted fabric with a distinctive sheen.

Sharkskin is a twill weave fabric created using acetate, rayon, worsted wool, lycra, and other plastic fibers.

The arrangement of darker and brighter threads in a twill weave creates a subtle pattern of lines that run across the fabric diagonally and a two tone, lustrous appearance.

Natural sharkskin fabric was made primarily using silk fibers woven to create a signature two-tone patter.

Artificial sharkskin, in part for its comparably low price point, gained traction as a clothing material in the early 1960s and the disco era of the late 1970s.