At the end of the eighteenth century, despite numerous import substitution plans, France remained largely dependent on the Italian region of Piedmont for high quality raw silk to weave the famous fabrics from Lyon that led European fashion. By the early 1830s, in contrast, French raw silk was recognised as the best quality material in Europe. Using a distinctive profit-based approach to commodity chains, this paper shows that this dazzling success originated in a new aesthetic sensibility that emerged from the 1780s onwards, triggering an unprecedented demand for silk reeled from white cocoons. Focusing on the overlooked nexus between fashion, raw materials and production, we argue that French attempts to increase white cocoon production were crucial in introducing a new technological paradigm based on steam engines, which would later spread throughout Europe. Our analysis encompasses China, the Viceroyalty of Peru, England and France, and covers the entire silk commodity chain from cocoons to fabrics. By isolating shocks to the commodity chain in terms of fashion trends and the global supply of raw materials, we demonstrate their impact on profitability and the subsequent reactions that reshaped the European silk market, granting France the long-sought-after supremacy in the trade.