This Italian cotton weaving mill is also set to score points with select, non-mass produced cotton fabrics once again this summer. New in the range are extra-fine Giza cottons weighing around 200 g/running metre. Other proposals here include summery blends with linen as well as finest knob and flame yarns plus fabrics in multi-count yarns with brilliant colour contrasts. Featuring refined Oxford textures, herringbone in solid and chine yarns plus tone-on-tone micro patterns some fabrics remain “very sophisticated”. Crinkle and seersucker surfaces look invigorating. Colours range from khaki, beige, brown to berry tones but also include radiant accent colours like blue and pink.

Light, super-fine and sanded twills are exemplary of the new luxury cottons highly traded as summer favourites by this Italian cotton expert. Likewise, super-fine rep fabrics for trousers and jackets as well as chic “sartorial” cottons – some of them “ennobled” by 20% silk admixtures, were successful at the initial sample presentations. Besides this, ultra-light cottons around 150 g/running metre also promise to be a success in menswear as they are ideal for fashionably loose-fit pants. Refined gabardines cater to the trend towards slightly shimmering fabrics.

Patterning and irregular surfaces add a particular modern touch to those many flowing materials already going so well at the initial presentations. These include crepe fabrics in viscose/polyamide with a satin reverse but also seersuckers in poly-cotton presented as two-tone plaids, matt crepe in cotton-viscose or matt chambrays in cotton-silk. Retro patterns featuring on cotton /Spandex/ linen clash with a line of mottled cotton jerseys that serve the casual tendency.

The Italian specialists for outdoor materials have exciting new developments in the pipeline. Dry wax finishes “support” all too flowing fabrics, which are not always suited for menswear, for instance. This coating breathes, is suitable for all types of fabrics and does not produce a writing effect. In contrast to this garment-dyed fabrics come as genuine double-faces with different colours thereby opening up new avenues for jacket, trouser or coat designers. Also sophisticated is a group of very lightweight materials in polyamide, polyamide/cotton or cotton fitted with a coloured resin coating on the face side. A writing effect familiar from traditional wax coatings is offered by both sides of the fabric though.

Fine cottons, high-stretch and with a sateen weave, make for “casuals de luxe”. This theme is enhanced by blends including silk, but also ultra-fine 100% cotton items and lightweight polyester fabrics with a light coating to add the so-called parachute silks. But the sporty direction is also catered to with dry touches and refined twill cloth. Despite washes everything revolves around the attributes “clean, silky and feminine” for this German company. Cupro warps are synonymous with new shiny themes, mixtures with polyamide for the techno trend. Yarn-dyed shape-memory fabrics in polyester and nylon pick up on the irregular surface theme.

Known for their jacket fabrics these well-known Italians follow the trend towards linen looks and have (further) developed delavé linens, plain or colour-woven linen fabrics with this in mind. Additionally, the cotton line was clearly extended to include Pima cotton, to name but one fabric, completed with silk and linen blends. A newcomer to the portfolio is hemp, which unmistakeably refers to its Italian origin as “Canapa Italiana”. The alternative to linen is presented as a 50/50 mixture and with a variety of textures.

The French give their silky materials a dash of sportiness here and there without neglecting their femininity. A case in point being their lengthwise stretch gabardines in viscose/Spandex. These contrast with solid or two-tone viscose crepe fabrics with their satin reverse and heavy drape that are almost “predestined” to flatter the figure. Fine warp-knitted fabrics are among the trendy favourites suited for laser decoration convincing buyers as cotton-polyamide crepe. Jacquards with reversible colours toy with Polka dots and stripes or with 3D looks obtained with pigment dyeing and enzyme washes.

For summer this Japanese firm lures visitors with several highlights in terms of high-tech materials. Stretch fabrics containing 70% cotton and 30% polyester (ZEN-17087) have already scored with Prada for Summer 2012. The “cocktail” of Coolmax yarns, T400 yarns and their special “Bio Finish” provide this trouser fabric with functionality and a pleasant touch. Two-way polyester stretch fabrics with a soft drape from the ZEN-17360 series were already “adopted” by the Paris fashion house Lanvin. Just as trendsetting are two-way stretch blends of 89% polyester and 11% polyurethane (ZEN-T7804) for pants and suits that can be dyed shot-black. The Max Mara Group is already convinced of this fabric.

These Italians cater to that trend towards well-groomed, casual fabrics. Correspondingly, they have developed chambrays and other sophisticated, yarn-dyed cotton materials for blazers and solo jackets that come in compelling jaspé yarns and fashionable washed-down effects obtained by indigo and pigment dyes. Mottled yarns avoid visual monotony time and again, as seen with the fine wool-linen panama fabrics. Silk looks are revisited by blends in cotton-viscose and with shot-dye effects – for instance for feminine blazers, skirts or suits. Twilled, slightly heavier cotton fabrics convince both women and menswear designers with compelling two or three-colour shepherd’s plaids or glenchecks, even at this early stage. They also focus on super-fine, highly elastic cotton fabrics with a matt shine and fine-feed yarns in taupe and brown.