Merino Wool – The Perfect Fabric for Your Suit

© Richard Anderson, Savile Row, London

Merino wool is one of the best types of wool. Because of its natural origins it has great characteristics and it is the best choice of fabric for your suits.  Anyone interested in fine suits knows that Merino wool comes from the sheep with the same name. The majority of that wool comes from Australia and South Africa. This kind of wool ends up in the collections of great designers and bespoke tailors all around the world. 

Merino Wool Characteristics

Praised by fashion houses and tailors, Merino wool, with fibers of less than 24 microns in diameter is supremely soft and durable and is one of the softest types of wool available. Because of its softness and natural origin it is the perfect choice for people with sensitive skin.

Merino wool is an excellent body temperature regulator. The wool provides warmth without overheating the person wearing it. It draws moisture away from the skin, a process is known as wicking. Merino wool fabrics are moisture repellent allowing the wearer to avoid the feeling of wetness.

This type of wool stretches but it keeps its shape, making it ideal during activities and travel. Merino wool has a large amount of stretch built into it so it easily gets back into shape even if it gets wet. It is also odor resistant, because of its structure and moisture absorption, it reduces the tendency to build-up odor.

The Wool Mills

What happens in between the sheep and the tailor? How it is transformed into the beautiful cloths and fabrics which are then cut and sewn into the finest suits? All of this happens by those that are unfamiliar to us. The weavers, knitters and garment makers.

Like any other craft many of their secrets are closely protected, but their end products fall into two categories. Knitted fabrics, whose fibers are more loosely connected, and woven cloths, whose fibers have been intermeshed more tightly and uniformly for a smoother, denser finish.

Depending on which is required, the raw fleece must first be processed into an appropriate yarn. This process is made by weaving companies. Their craftsmanship, generally handed down through the generations is universally acclaimed and yarns they produce are always in demand.

But while their skills conform to the long established standards, they succeed to introduce many innovations to their yarn making process.

In recent years these companies have responded to the growing appetite for luxury and high end apparel. Some of these companies like Floreal from Mauritius, are operating an international business. They have become innovators of special finishes and techniques. Floral has built a worldwide reputation for producing garments that can be machine washed and tumble-dried, and they continually invest in developments of new yarns.

© William Halstead

Some of the finest wool weavers come from Great Britain. One of those is Abraham Moon & Sons from Yorkshire. They have gained reputation for excellence across a wide range of interrelated activities, like dyeing, blending, carding, spinning, weaving and finishing that all takes place in their 175 year old mill in the outskirts of Guiseley.

Moon produces a wide range of woven wool fabrics using the unique color blending system, creating richly colored fabrics. They also have their own well, drawing the water of outstanding quality which is important resource for achieving rich colors and fabric softness.

Down the road from Moon is Stanley Mills in Bradford. Home of luxury fabrics which are synonym for quality for more than 135 years. Stanley Mills presides over three brands steeped in luxury and heritage; John Foster, Charles Clayton and William Halstead.  These brands represent the weavers who produce the finest and smoothest merino worsteds on whom the tailors of Savile Row and their bespoke equivalents around the world build their reputation.

Merino Wool Suits

Because of its natural characteristics merino wool is the best choice for suits of active people. It is great for travel since it will wrinkle just a bit but it will regain its shape by itself after you hang it over night.

Because of this, suit made out of merino wool has a nice feel and drape. Besides, merino wool is easy to care since its natural fibers have a protective layer that prevents stains, due to being less prone to static buildup.

Merino wool suits are a perfect choice for suits that you can wear all year long.

Today merino wool is produced in a ways that was not possible hundred years ago and countries like Australia and South Africa produce fine merino wool in abundance there is no reason why you should not consider merino wool as a fabric of your choice for your suits.