You can appreciate how hard it must be for Buddhists to find the reincarnation of a Lama—the painstaking search and time spent determining who may or may not be the next coming. Similar things are going on in Manhattan as devout members of the Corduroy Appreciation Club seek out the perfect child; in this case, one who will turn 11 on 11/11/11, the auspicious calendar date suggesting the textile’s ribs.

“That child is the messiah of corduroy,” said Miles Rohan to the New York Daily News. “We liken it to finding the Dalai Lama.”

The New York-based club has already been contacted by a family from Wisconsin with twins turning 11 on November 11, but the club wants a local child to attend their “grandest meeting” in Manhattan and be installed on a throne of Corduroy to be worshipped like a textile deity.

Members attending the grand meeting will be required to wear three items of corduroy clothing and no less. The club now has over 25o devoted members who worship the cloth and its popularity is reputedly growing from coast to coast. Rohan said he initially created the club as a joke and a way of poking fun at secret societies; since then his brother have been giving lectures about the relationship between corduroy and art history and things have taken a somewhat more serious turn.

“He is keen on the historical figures who have worn corduroy,” said Rohan of his brother. “It’s the fabric of intellectuals, poets, Woody Allen.”

The club celebrates twice yearly, on 1 January 1 and 11 November.