Single-thread poplin:
a long-overdue rehabilitation.

We have particular reason to regret the collective madness that seems to have befallen men’s shirt-makers in recent years in the shape of the ‘doppio ritorto’: double-thread spun yarn. Stupidly, we have to confess that we joined the trend. The fact is that it has been hardly possible to sell quality men's shirts at all in recent years without double-thread yarn in both warp and weft. What men let themselves in for were shirts that were admittedly hard-wearing, but which were stiff, tightly stretched (due to the threads pulling against one another) and in addition hard to iron. At the same time, the new trend almost sounded the death-knell for a material that had previously been popular with quality shirt-makers – single-thread poplin, originating from St Gallen in Switzerland. We are now proud to rehabilitate this marvellously light, smooth cloth coupled with a sense of shame that we ever allowed ourselves to ‘lose the plot’! We guarantee that 95 out of 100 men will feel better in it 95% of the time than they ever would in heavier double-thread yarn. Our poplin comes from Albrecht&Morgen, a Swiss firm of cotton-makers in Appenzell. It is made of extra-fine, long-fibre Egyptian Mako cotton. A fine Nm80/2 thread is used for the warp, and for the weft Nm 30/1. It is from this cloth that Domenico Mazzarelli has made the shirts that you find in this catalogue. The collars and cuffs have been made according to best shirt-makers' practice: that is, not glued together but with loose interfacing. You will find ladies’ blouses made of this same marvellous cloth (weight 140 g/sq.m) further on in the catalogue.