Italian fabrics and yarns: a buyer's guide to choosing

Wool: worsted and woollen

Wool fabrics fall into two broad families. Worsteds (pettinato in Italian) are woven from smooth combed yarn: they are fine, firm and crisp in pattern, suited to suits, trousers and dresses. Woollens (cardato) use a fluffier yarn: they are warmer and softer with a fuller surface, and go into coats, jackets and winter skirts. Prato has historically specialised in woollens, while the Biella area in Piedmont is known for worsteds. Fine merino often carries a Super 100s, 120s or higher rating: the higher the number, the finer the fibre, but the more delicate the cloth in wear. Everyday garments do not always need the highest number.

Cashmere and fine fibres

Cashmere is valued for softness and warmth at low weight. Italian spinners generally buy the raw fibre abroad and turn it into yarn and fabric, so quality depends not only on where the fibre comes from, but on fibre length and fineness and on the quality of spinning and finishing. In knitwear, yarn count and machine gauge matter: they set the density and weight of the garment. Cashmere is often blended with wool or silk to lower the price and improve durability. When comparing offers, check the exact cashmere percentage, ask for a fabric sample and test it for pilling, especially if the garment will sell in the mid-market.

Linen, cotton and silk

Linen breathes and suits summer collections, but it creases easily and can shrink in the wash, so ask whether the fabric has been pre-shrunk. Cotton is the most versatile, from poplin and oxford shirtings to jersey and twill. Quality depends on staple length and yarn count: long-staple cotton gives a smoother, stronger fabric. In Italy, silk is closely tied to the Como area, where silk fabrics are printed and finished. Silk needs careful sewing and gentle care, and colours and prints should be checked for light fastness. For all three fibres, fabric weight in grams per square metre tells you whether it suits a shirt, a dress or trousers.

Blends and elastane

Blends combine the properties of different fibres: wool with polyamide holds its shape better and lasts longer, cotton with elastane adds comfort in fit, viscose with wool makes the fabric softer and cheaper. A blend is neither better nor worse than a pure fibre; it comes down to the garment's purpose and price. What matters is that the label matches the real fabric: under EU rules composition is shown in percentages with official fibre names. Even 2-5% elastane changes how a fabric behaves, so patterns and size specs must allow for it. If you switch from a pure fibre to a blend or the other way round, make a new sample and check the fit instead of reusing the old patterns.

Prato regenerated wool

For more than a century Prato has turned used wool garments and textile waste into new fibre. Old garments are sorted by colour and composition, pulled back into fibre and spun again, often with virgin wool or other fibres added. Sorting by colour means that in many cases no re-dyeing is needed. These fabrics are called regenerated or recycled wool and are in demand with brands that care about sustainability. Keep their characteristics in mind: recycled fibre is shorter, so the fabric is usually denser and bulkier, and a production lot can differ slightly from the sample. Only make sustainability claims with evidence from the supplier: the share of recycled content, certificates where they exist and documents you can show your customers.

How to choose and order fabric

Start with the garment: what the fabric is for, the price segment and the care your customer expects. Then compare samples for composition, weight in g/m², width, hand feel and drape. Ask the supplier for test data: shrinkage, pilling and colour fastness. Find out whether the fabric is in stock (so-called stock service, with small minimums) or will be produced to order, with a minimum per colour and a lead time of several weeks. Approve colour on a lab dip in daylight. Make one sample garment before ordering the full yardage. We source fabrics at Prato mills, show them to you close up on video and send you swatches.

What to check before ordering fabric

• Composition in percentages and weight in g/m²
• Fabric width and consumption per garment
• Shrinkage, pilling and colour fastness
• Stock availability or minimum per colour
• Production and delivery lead time for the yardage
• Colour approval on a lab dip
• A sewn sample garment before ordering the full run