Sea Island Cotton
Sea Island cotton has been the foundation of Spoerry’s rare and precious top-quality yarns for over 150 years
The cotton prized for Kings and Queens,
Sea Island cotton is universally
recognised as the finest
cotton in the world. Even Queen Victoria and Edward VIII,
as well as today’s most fashionable individuals have
enthusiastically embraced the silky texture and exquisite
luxury of fabrics made out of Sea Island cotton.
The cotton even received an unsolicited endorsement from Ian Fleming whose fi ctional character, James Bond, accepting nothing less than a Sea Island cotton shirts between himself and his holster.
Sea Island cotton is universally recognised as the finest cotton in the world
The Black Seed
The seed of Sea Island cotton, Gossypium Barbadense or better known as “black seed” is a strain that is clearly different from all other types of cotton. It produces the longest and finest cotton fibres in the world – up to 50 mm in length.
That is 20% longer than the fibres of other types of fine cotton. This ensures a perfect yarn structure, low felting tendency and clear weave pattern.
The Works
Dedication
The Jamaica connection
True to its quality commitment, Spoerry 1866 in cooperation with local farmers maintains for many years its own plantation and fibre processing plant in Jamaica. In this way the company has direct control over the cotton’s quality and preserves a direct relationship to each individual farmer.
Sea Island cotton is picked by hand and processed using a gentle traditional method which today, in our industrial society, is no longer mastered by many people. We believe this is a positive contribution to the ecological balance. This is the only way in which the length of the fibres can be combined with their fine, homogenous structure.
In accordance with our philosophy we select the cotton manually, in the traditional way, in order to be able to guarantee top quality. These efforts result in a unique blend of fibres with outstanding strength, a natural silken sheen and an unbelievable feel that cannot be found elsewhere.
Traceability
A rare commodity
The production of sea island cotton as a proportion of total worldwide cotton production is no more that 0.00002 percent. There is a specialist organisation called WISICA International (West Indian Sea Island Cotton Association International) which inspects and certifies every kilogram of locally produced cotton.
Traceable system to prevent counterfeits
Like almost any rare commodity Sea Island Cotton strongly multiplies on its journey from the fields to the shops; there is a lot more sold than harvested!
To counteract the phenomenon, a network of long-term contractual partners are in place to guarantee the purity of this precious raw material. In addition, a special hologram is used as a sign for the 100 per cent authenticity of Sea Island cotton and if wished a hangtag is available with a traceability QR code, which identifies the origin of this precious fibres.
