Fabric Information

We have found over the years that one of the most asked question by customers is: "What are the fibres used to make a particular garment?". This isn't alway clear when you look at the labels, especially when abbreviations are used to describe them and there are more than one abbreviation for a particular fibre or the names of some fibres are not commonplace. It can also be useful to know from what the fibres are made, many people prefer natural fabrics like cotton or linen, but some of the cellulose fabrics are made from natural products like wood and are fully sustainable, often more environmentally friendly than the processes used to produce the so called natural fibres. To help clarify this, we have compiled the following list, which we hope can be of assistance.

Animal Fibres

• WO: Wool (Sheep's wool)
• WV: Virgin wool (New wool) - Only new sheep's wool that has not undergone any processing may be called pure virgin wool
• SE: Silk - taken from the thread used to create a moth cacoon
• WG: Vicuña - the wild form of the domesticated alpacas, not shorn, but picked up and collected by hand
• WK: Camelhair - This hair falls out naturally in spring. Light to dark brown, soft and silky, with a beautiful, natural sheen
• WL: Llama - difficult to dye, from domesticated Llamas
• WN: Rabbit Fur - usually taken from the angora rabbit (often confused with angora goat) is almost exclusively used in hand knitting.
• WS: Cashmere (Cashmere goat) - luxurious underwool: the fluff, which is extremely soft, light and silky, sheared and brushed.
• WP: Alpaca - hair has a flat crimp, is very fine and has a silky sheen. It can be processed both as worsted and woollen yarn. Alpaca is one of the highest-quality animal fibres from domesticated animals
• WA: Angora - The angora rabbit soft and difficult to knit
• WY: Yak - a domesticated form of the wild Yack, kept as livestock in the Himalayan mountains and Mongolia. Due to the local climate conditions, it has a fine, soft fluff on its underbelly to protect it from the cold — similar to the Cashmere goat.
• MO: Mohair - the mohair Goat has long, curly, glossy white hair; 120-150 mm in length. Soft, silky, and lightweight. Domesticated animals
• WM: Mohair - as above.
• WB: Beaver Wool - not usually used in the modern world
• WU: Guanaco - a very rare, ultra-soft luxury fibres from wild South American camelids, measuring 12 to 18 microns—finer than cashmere.

Natural (Plant) Fibres

• AB: Abaca - a plant also known as Manila hemp or banana hemp, is native to Eastern Asia. Like flax, but coarser.
• AL: Alginate - a natural biopolymer extracted from brown seaweed, is used in clothing production as a sustainable fiber blend
• BA: Bamboo - From bamboo plant fibres.
• BB: Bamboo - From bamboo plant fibres.
• CC: Coir - a coarse natural fiber from coconut husks.
• CO: Cotton - fibres from the seed of the cotton plant.
• HA: Hemp - taken from stem fibres, similar to linen or flax, but coarser.
• HL: Cotton/Linen Blend
• JU: Jute - traditionally used for heavy sacks and ropes, it is now often blended with cotton, wool, or silk to produce breathable, high-fashion garments.
• KE: Kenaf - a fast-growing, sustainable plant fiber used to create eco-friendly apparel by extracting bast fibers from the outer stalks.
• KP: Kapok - comes from the seed pods of the kapok tree. It is an ultra-light, hollow, and eco-friendly material. Modern technology allows it to be blended with cotton or other fibers to create sustainable clothing.
• LI: Linen - the oldest and one of the most elegant textiles from stem fibres of the flax plant
• MG: Maguey - (agave) plays a vital role in sustainable textile production.
• RA: Ramie - also known as Chinese Grass from stem fibres, similar to linen or flax, but coarser.
• OCO: Organic Cotton
• RCO: Recycled Cotton
• SI: Sisal - a tough, natural plant fiber from the Agave sisalana cactus used to make rope, twine, and rugs, but sometimes used in garment production
• SN: Sunn - an eco-friendly, fast-growing natural fibre native to India used for sustainable textiles.

Semi-Synthetic and Cellulose Fibres

• AC: Cellulose Acetate - usually from wood pulp, usually used for linings
• CLY: Lyocell - particularly environmentally friendly, the most modern for the manufacturing of fibres from wood
• CU: Cupro - sustainably produced fibres from controlled plant cultivation
• CV or VI: Viscose (Rayon) - sustainably produced fibres from controlled plant cultivation
• MD or CMD: Modal - fibres are sustainably produced from plant cultivation and from waste in cotton production.
• PI: Paper Yarn - an innovative, sustainable textile made by cutting wood pulp or recycled paper into thin strips and twisting them into strong threads. It offers ultra-lightweight comfort, high breathability, and natural odor resistance, making it ideal for eco-friendly fashion.
• TA or CTA: Triacetate - a lightweight fabric, lighter than Linen, Wool or Cotton. It hardly creases. It feels elastic, smooth and supple on the skin and is extremely comfortable to wear. The easy-care fabric dries quickly after washing. the fabrics are sustainable and made from renewable resources.
• TN: Tencel - fibres are sustainably produced from plant cultivation and from waste in cotton production.
• VI: Viscose - sustainably produced fibres from controlled plant cultivation

Synthetic Fibres

• AR: Aramid - high-performance synthetic polyamides used in apparel production for exceptional heat tolerance, flame resistance, and high tensile strength.
• EL or EA: Elastane or Elastodiene - used to add stretch to fabrics, stretches upto 7X its initial length.
• MA: Modacrylic
• PL or PES: Polyester - is used both on its own and with other types of fibres both natural and synthetic
• PA: Polyamide (Nylon) - is extremely strong and can be produced in a large range of fineness
• PC: Acrylic (Polyacrylonitrile) - engineered to mimic the soft, warm feel of natural wool at a lower cost
• PM: Metallised Polyester - involves coating polyester yarn with a thin layer of metal/li>
• PU: Polyurethane - usually used in technical fabric
• PP: Polypropylene - a tough, light, and water-repellent plastic fiber
• PVC: Polyvinyl Chloride - usually as a coating material

Other

• ME: Metal - Very fine metal threads giving a metallic sheen as part of a textile's make-up. Easy to care for, it changes the feel and drape of a fabric very significantly.
• AF: Other Fibres - As it says, non-specified, other fibres. This can only be used when a mix of various, small or unidentifiable fibres makes up a total less than 15% of the garments overall weight. Any distinct fibres of 1% or more must be identified on the label.

All garments must be labelled with clear, durable and accurate details of the fibres used. There are however, some tolerances eg. Pure fibre items are allowed a 2% margin for technical impurities. Decorative, elaborative elements making up to 7% of the garment can be excluded from calculations completely.