In Dzongu, North Sikkim, Lepcha weavers shred *Ru* cane and *Po-young* bamboo into strings no wider than a fingernail and lay them flat, layer over layer, into the conical Sumok-thyaktuk once worn by the Sikkim Guard. Each of the four layers has a name taken from what it resembles: the spider's web, the bee's eye, the design of armour.

This system takes the hat literally. The page is the colour of split bamboo, not paper. Structure runs on the diagonal, because the strings cross at fixed angles and never square up. Colour arrives as dyed bands — madder root and green — laid across the weave at intervals, not as gradient or wash.