Fibres Origin
Very often, customers have always asked for Egyptian or Sea Island Cotton. Earlier in the article we have spoke about what a Sea Island Cotton Shirt or Egyptian Cotton Shirt means. We decided to write this to give an understanding to why the origins of your cotton fibre are a key component of what makes a good fabric.
There’re only 4 distinct regions in the world that produces extra long staple cotton or the species, Gossypium Barbadense: the rare Sea Island cotton from the West Indies, the highly prized Giza cotton from Egypt, the Supima cotton and Sudanese Barakat cotton. Most of our shirt fabrics from the Italian mills utilise the Giza 87 and 88 or Supima yarns while some of our premium fabrics use the renowned Giza 45 yarns.
Very often, customers have always asked for Egyptian or Sea Island Cotton. Earlier in the article we have spoke about what a Sea Island Cotton Shirt or Egyptian Cotton Shirt means. We decided to write this to give an understanding to why the origins of your cotton fibre are a key component of what makes a good fabric.
There’re only 4 distinct regions in the world that produces extra long staple cotton or the species, Gossypium Barbadense: the rare Sea Island cotton from the West Indies, the highly prized Giza cotton from Egypt, the Supima cotton and Sudanese Barakat cotton. Most of our shirt fabrics from the Italian mills utilise the Giza 87 and 88 or Supima yarns while some of our premium fabrics use the renowned Giza 45 yarns.
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You’ve definitely entered a shop before where a tailor has plied to you “Sea Island” Cotton Shirts. However, be aware that Sea Island cotton is the rarest of cottons and they constitute only 0.0004% of the entire world’s cotton annual production. Sea Island Cottons are the longest of all the cotton fibers and are the most expensive with Staple lengths going up to 60mm. As mentioned before, most extra long staple cottons actually descended from the lineage of Sea Island cottons.
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Similar to Sea Island cotton, you’ll not run short of experiences of outfitters selling you their "Egyptian Cotton" shirts. The term Egyptian cotton will have already marketed itself as one of the finest and most luxurious cottons in the world and thus the wide use of the term. However, Egyptian cotton actually is responsible for less than 1% of the entire world’s cotton annual production and while Egypt sells some of the best Extra Long Staple Cotton in the world, they only represent less than 20% of the Egyptian cotton crop. Even rarer, the highly prized Giza 45 in some of our shirts represents only 0.4% of all Egyptian Cotton.
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Pima cotton traces its ancestry to the famous Sea Island cottons that were produced in the Southeast United States in the 1700's. The cotton was subsequently co-bred with Egyptian cottons to develop the modern extra long staple cottons that were grown in the US since the early 20th Century. Our shirts from the fabled mill, Bonfanti, use Supima cotton whose name is a combination of "Superior" and "Pima". Less than 1% of the world's cotton can be called Supima.
We’ve definitely covered how rare these cottons are but as discussed earlier, what makes them special is their extra long staple nature. These particular cottons that originate from these parts of the world produce some of the longest cottons translating to not only a fine but also a strong fabric. True high yarn count fabrics can only be made from these extra long staple cottons while maintaining the same or higher strength and durability. Most average cotton lengths average about 22mm. Some cottons do not reach even 18mm. Unlike normal cottons, these extra long staples start from 35mm and upwards that can help produce some of the finest and softest yarns to be weaved into luxurious fabrics. Average cottons have a fibre strength of 26 to 29 grams/tex. The extra long staples have a fibre strength of 44g/tex and upwards.
Below is a table taken from the Albini Group to showcase the length and also the strength of the Giza 45 and the other Egyptian fabrics, proving that Extra Long Staples while long and fine make absolutely strong yarns.
We’ve definitely covered how rare these cottons are but as discussed earlier, what makes them special is their extra long staple nature. These particular cottons that originate from these parts of the world produce some of the longest cottons translating to not only a fine but also a strong fabric. True high yarn count fabrics can only be made from these extra long staple cottons while maintaining the same or higher strength and durability. Most average cotton lengths average about 22mm. Some cottons do not reach even 18mm. Unlike normal cottons, these extra long staples start from 35mm and upwards that can help produce some of the finest and softest yarns to be weaved into luxurious fabrics. Average cottons have a fibre strength of 26 to 29 grams/tex. The extra long staples have a fibre strength of 44g/tex and upwards.
Below is a table taken from the Albini Group to showcase the length and also the strength of the Giza 45 and the other Egyptian fabrics, proving that Extra Long Staples while long and fine make absolutely strong yarns.
