Dictionary

Sea Island cotton is a very high quality cotton grown on the islands of the Caribbean. It is hand-picked and has a fiber length of up to 50 mm or even a little bit more, which refers to the world record (for comparison, Egyptian high-quality cotton has a fiber length of up to 40 mm). Sea Island cotton products are very rare and belong to the expensive luxury segment of both men’s and women’s clothing: underwear, T-shirts, shirts, pullovers, socks and even knitted ties.

This unique type of cotton got its name from the Sea Islands located in the Atlantic Ocean off the southeastern coast of the US, near the states of Georgia and South Carolina. Cotton began to be grown there yet in 1786. Later, in the 1920s, cotton production on the Sea Islands has been halted. Nowadays, it’s grown only in Barbados and Jamaica: there are the most favorable climatic conditions, allowing to produce the highest quality cotton.

The collected cotton is subjected to thorough cleaning, during which grains of sand, particles of earth and leaves are removed from it. Then the quality control is carried out by a special organization WISICA (West Indian Sea Island Cotton Association) which conducts an inspection and, based on its results, determines whether to certify the relevant raw materials as Sea Island cotton or not.

Advantages of Sea Island Cotton and related fabrics:

• soft, silky, very pleasant to the touch;
• noble in appearance, somewhat reminiscent of matte silk;
• lightweight;
• strong and durable.