Corduroy fans await their 'Messiah'

Corduroy fans in New York are anxiously awaiting November 11 - when they hope to welcome their 'Messiah'. The city's Corduroy Appreciation Club is seeking a child who turns 11 on 11/11/11 - the date it says resembles the ribs of its favorite textile.

"That child is the messiah of corduroy," Miles Rohan, founder of the club, said. "We liken it to finding the Dalai Lama." The New York-based club said it had already been contacted by twins from Wisconsin who will turn 11 on November 11. But they are looking for a locally based child to attend their "grandest meeting" in Manhattan on that date.



The child will be installed on a throne and treated like textile royalty after being carried into the meeting. Members who attend the meeting will also be required to wear three items of clothing made of corduroy, instead of the regular two. The club celebrates twice yearly, on 1 January 1 - or 1/1- and 11 November, and has about 250 members.

Rohan said he first created the club as a joke and a way of poking fun at secret societies, but his brother had given lectures about the "relationship between corduroy and art history. He is keen on the historical figures who have worn corduroy. It's the fabric of intellectuals, poets, Woody Allen."