Peruvian pima cotton being preferred by fabric makers

18 Oct '13

2 min read

Peru’s pima cotton, considered to be the best in the world due to its excellent features like extraordinary length, fineness and fitness of fibre coupled with qualities like lustre, durability and absorbance, is rapidly establishing itself as one of the major export items from the country, and reinforcing the Brand Peru in the textile world.

The ‘pima cotton’ is the common name for Gossypium barbadense categorised as extra long staple (ELS) cotton, mainly grown in Peru, besides countries such as the US and Australia.

Pima cotton is mainly grown along the northern coastal valley of Peru, in the departments of Lambayeque and San Martin. The favourable weather conditions of the regions complimented by rich soil, ideal rainfall and balanced moisture facilitate the cultivation of this special fibre, which comes out to be over double in length than the normal fibre. In addition to this, the hand harvesting system shields the fibre against any damage, making it the best pick for elite garment producers, globally.

The fine cotton fibres can be spun into yarn of a given count which can be woven multiple times to prepare highly durable yet super soft fabrics that take beautifully to dyes.

The fibre has several brands in its clientele, including globally renowned fashion giants like Armani and Eileen Fisher

Some of the leading apparel producers in Peru like LK Group, which caters to renowned private brands in the US and Europe, mainly use Peruvian pima cotton to produce baby and children clothing pieces like layettes, t-shirts and dresses.

Brazil’s first online-only premium basic apparel brand ‘Basico’ also used the Peruvian pima cotton to prepare its first line of apparels, comprising of t-shirts, polos, tank tops, and basic wears for men and women.

US’s Mack Weldon, a player in the direct-to-consumer trend, also recently released a collection of super soft 100 percent Peruvian pima cotton tees.

US-based Kissy Kissy is another name that used the Peruvian cotton to bestow its spring 2014 collection for babies with love, comfort and style. The line has been introduced as organic clothing collection.

Leading multichannel fashion retailer of women's apparel and accessories - J.Jill also embraced Peruvian pima cotton in its latest collection of t-shirts.

Considering the number of fashion labels increasingly using the pima cotton, it is likely that apparel made from pima cotton would soon become a fashion favorite.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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