Ask anyone who grew up around a Greek kitchen and they will know the cure. A few drops of olive oil in a glass of water, a whispered prayer, and a careful look at what the oil does. If it spreads, someone has been looking at you the wrong way.

That look has a name: matiasma. It is also the name of our most recognisable print, and the reason a small blue eye now sits on silk made in London.

What is the Matiasma?

In Greek, mati means eye. Matiasma is what happens when one lands on you with too much feeling behind it: envy, resentment, even praise that is a little too generous. The symptoms, so the belief goes, are a sudden headache, a heavy tiredness or a run of bad luck.

The remedy is xematiasma, the "un-eyeing": a short, private ritual of prayer and oil, usually passed down within families. Protection is simpler. A blue eye, worn on the body or hung by the door, looks back so you don't have to.

It is a belief most people hold at arm's length and never quite let go of. Newborns still get a mati pinned to their clothes. New cars still get one on the mirror.

From Ancient Cups to Ottoman Glass

The idea is old. In the sixth century BC, Athenian potters painted large, staring eyes onto drinking cups. Centuries later, Plutarch wrote up a dinner-party debate on how a single glance could do harm.

Across the eastern Mediterranean, the belief travelled with trade, faith and empire. In the Ottoman centuries, Greek and Turkish homes hung the same deep-blue glass charm: mati to one, nazar to the other. Its colours and geometry became a shared visual language, woven and embroidered into textiles from Istanbul to the Aegean islands.

That shared language is where our print begins.

Designing the Matiasma Print

We designed the pattern in-house, working from the colours of old Greek and Ottoman textiles rather than the souvenir-shop charm. The eye is there, repeated and abstracted, set inside a geometric field of cobalt, burnt orange, blue and cream. It sits closer to a kilim than a keyring.

The aim was a print that rewards a second look. From across a room it reads as pattern. Up close, the eyes look back.

We chose silk because the symbol deserves it. Satin silk carries colour with a depth and sheen that cotton can't match, and it moves with the body, so the pattern shifts as you do.

The Matiasma Collection

Each piece in the Matiasma collection is crafted in London, in very limited numbers.

• The Matiasma Silk Shirt. 100% satin silk with a Cuban collar and a relaxed fit. Genuine river-shell buttons are dyed to match, and the button channel is fully fused so it holds its shape for years.

• The Matiasma Silk Shorts. The same print, cut for warm days. Wear them with the shirt as a set, or on their own.

• The Matiasma Sweatshirt. A 330gsm Italian cotton fleece sweatshirt with the print set as a bold silk chest panel. Finished with Japanese cotton herringbone neck tape and subtle embroidered logos.

How to Wear it

• Summer evenings: the silk shirt left open over a white tee, with tailored trousers and bare ankles.

• On holiday: shirt and shorts together as a set. It's the easiest outfit you'll pack.

• Winter: the shirt buttoned up under a dark overcoat, so the print shows only at the collar and cuffs.

• Travel days: the Matiasma sweatshirt with relaxed bottoms. It's warm enough for the plane and smart enough for arrival.

Care: dry clean the silk pieces and steam carefully. Treat them well and they will outlast trends by decades.