How to Read Our Fabric Names
Giza 87. Super 120s. 17.5 micron. 13.5 oz selvedge. Fabric names sound like code because they are — here's the decoder, so nobody can sell you adjectives again.
Cotton: Staple Is Everything
Cotton quality is one variable wearing many names: fiber length, called staple. Long fibers spin into finer, stronger, smoother yarn that pills less and ages better. "Giza 87" isn't marketing — it's a specific extra-long-staple Egyptian cotton variety, among the finest grown on earth, which is why our dress shirt feels the way it does and why we name the variety instead of saying "premium."
"Two-ply" means two yarns twisted together before weaving — stronger, smoother, longer-lived than single-ply at the same weight. When a label says only "100% cotton," the silence about staple and ply is itself the information.
Wool: Microns and the Super Numbers
Wool fineness is measured in microns — the fiber's diameter. Below roughly 19, wool stops being itchy; our Merino runs about 17.5, which is why it works against bare skin. Suiting uses the "Super" scale instead: Super 120s indicates very fine fibers spun for a smooth, drapey cloth. Higher isn't automatically better — past a point you trade durability for shine. We deliberately stop where a garment still survives a decade of wearing.
The mill matters as much as the number: the same fiber becomes different cloth in different hands, which is why we name ours.
Weight, Ounces, and Selvedge
GSM (grams per square meter) is cloth weight: our piqué runs 220–240 for structure, our Melton coat cloth around 600 — a wall against wind. Denim uses ounces per square yard; 13.5 oz is substantial enough to fade beautifully and last, without being armor.
Selvedge means the fabric's self-finished edge, woven on slow shuttle looms — denser, more character, visible when you cuff the jean. It's not automatically better denim; it's denim made the slow way, and the slow way happens to produce the cloth we want.
Every fabric we use carries its full specification on the product page — fiber, origin, weight, mill where we're able. If a brand won't tell you these numbers, assume the numbers wouldn't flatter them.