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It's all about the fabric - Seersucker

It's all about the fabric - Seersucker

The Grenouille brand has been lucky enough to find success with a number of different products they've developed, since starting in 1996, however it's the shirts that have been it's backbone for most of that time.   If we were to try and put our finger on why the shirts have become so successful, I think both Vicky and I would say that it's all about the fabric and one particular fabric that helped it to stand apart from the competitors… seersucker!

 

In the early days of the brand, it became apparent that although there were lots and lots of shirt companies, there weren't many that were producing with seersucker and the quality of those that were was varied to say the least.  Fortunately for Grenouille, Vicky's mum Cindy (the brand’s creator) found a fabulous little factory in Thailand that had access to some truly remarkable seersucker fabrics.  

 

Now for those that know about seersucker, a little introduction is in order.  The name seersucker comes from the Sanskrit क्षीरशर्करा (kshirsharkara) and also from the Persian terms shîr (شیر) and shakar (شکر), which mean milk and sugar (or more accurately gravel / grit) respectively and describes the smooth and textured weave to the fabric. 

 

This smooth and textured look  / feel is achieved by adding tension to different groups of threads during weaving process, which creates a textured pattern on the higher tension threads in the finished cloth.  The fabric tends to be produced using threads of varying amounts of cotton, with the higher the percentage of cotton creating a softer, less pronounced textured look.

 

One of the biggest benefits of seersucker over other woven cotton fabrics is it’s incredible breathability, making it ideal for warmer temperatures; the texture creates extra pockets of air between the cloth and your skin.  The other benefit, which we personally think is it’s makes it the must have fabric for people that travel is it’s easy care, non iron qualities; at the end of the day, give it a rinse out, hang it out to dry and the next morning it’s ready to wear. 

 

It’s slightly unusual appearance has been known to put people off, but we reckon that if you give it a go, you’ll be very pleasantly surprised, after all if it was good enough for our late Queen Elizabeth II, then we reckon seersucker is good enough for everyone!

 

 

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