DEMO — fictional range. Local brief only, NOT SENT. No personal data is collected or transmitted.
MATERIAL
Six fibres, and what each one is chosen for.
A fibre is chosen for how it wears and how it washes, then for how it feels. The care label follows from the fibre, so the choice is a regulatory one as well as a design one.
Illustrative material record
- Merino wool
- Fine knits · warm, holds shape, needs careful washing
- Cotton
- General garments · washes hot, shrinks unless pre-shrunk
- Viscose
- Drape and sheen · weak when wet, shrinks and loses shape
- Polyester
- Durability and colour fastness · does not breathe well
- Cotton and elastane
- Fitted garments · recovers its shape, degrades with heat
- Linen
- Summer garments · cool and strong, creases and shrinks
Illustrative examples for a fictional range. Fibre selection depends on the fit, the market and the care the customer will accept, and is confirmed against a specification rather than a web page.
Why the blend is the specification.
Because a small percentage of elastane changes how the garment washes, and a small percentage of a second fibre changes what the label has to say. The percentages are regulated, not approximate.
Why viscose is the difficult one.
Because it is weak when wet and shrinks. A viscose garment that is washed as though it were cotton loses its size and its shape, and the label has to prevent that.