A buddy lately put me in contact with the German model Stefan Brandt, which makes garments out of an unique, extra-fine cotton jersey, in addition to supplying it to trend manufacturers.

The founder, Stefan, is obsessive in terms of high quality. He arrange his personal manufacturing in Ecuador in 1994, with a view to make use of a superfine Peruvian Pima cotton and create processes to greatest develop its attributes. These embody all-natural strategies for eradicating pigments and pollution from the material, which makes the fabric stronger and extra naturally elastic. The materials are notably good for these with allergy symptoms or delicate pores and skin. 

Solely the really obsessive do one thing like this. Going again to the uncooked materials is one of the simplest ways to regulate the method and produce one thing really distinctive, however it’s actually laborious. It jogs my memory of tales Graham at Optimo tells about slogging spherical Europe looking for previous hatmaking equipment, or of the way in which the Japanese began making denim within the final century. Besides Stefan has gone all the way in which upstream.

Stefan and I’ve talked a good bit in current months, and he comes throughout as extra of a scientist than a trend man, sprinkling in phrases like dimensional stability and localised stress fields. He has additionally had a transparent goal to disrupt the market and make a cotton jersey that’s actually totally different, that seems like silk. 

Stefan despatched me a number of issues to attempt on, so I may see the merchandise in individual: a T-shirt, some boxer-briefs, a shirt and a polo shirt.

They actually do really feel lovely. I’ve tried high-end jersey fairly a bit over time, primarily from the Austrian firm Hanro and Swiss maker Zimmerli. I visited the Zimmerli manufacture in Aarburg, Switzerland for the e-book The Best Menswear within the World. We have been put up in a freezing chilly village within the mountains, dusted with snow.

Anyway, I’ve worn Zimmerli underwear over time since that journey as nicely, so I’m pretty aware of the competitors. And I do discover a distinction with the Stefan Brandt jersey – it’s lighter, silkier and smoother. 

I’ve been Stefan’s items on and off for a number of weeks, and I’m impressed by what he has produced, in addition to respectful of the whole lot he’s put into it. However I’ve to say the product isn’t actually for me. 

Silkiness might be nice in lots of issues, most clearly a silk shirt. It’s a beautiful and doubtless under-appreciated menswear choice with tailoring, and sometimes for summer time garments too – rayon being the much less pure choice that usually will get used. 

However a silky, stretchy polo shirt just isn’t one thing I take pleasure in. It clings a bit of, and appears relatively luxe for that model of clothes. If I used to be going to put on a wise polo I’d relatively it in a tremendous merino, as that’s often extra matte and to me has a cleaner look. 

T-shirts make extra sense, and the items from Stefan that I’ve worn persistently since getting them are the T-shirts, as undershirts. They really feel pretty in opposition to the pores and skin and carry out very nicely. 

However even manufacturers who’ve extra of a luxe look – akin to Saman Amel, above – often put on knitted T-shirts with their tailor-made trousers and cashmere overshirts, relatively than jersey. They is likely to be in cotton, merino or cashmere/silk, however knits are usually most popular for his or her physique and the way in which they drape.

I had an identical feeling to the boxer-briefs from Stefan Brandt, although there I additionally had a private desire: the Brandt mannequin makes use of a cotton layer on the surface of the waistband and stretch one on the within, whereas I discover it extra comfy to have a single materials. 

Mine are principally from Sunspel today, by the way in which, given Zimmerli is £99 a pair. Though to be truthful Stefan Brandt underwear does very nicely from a price perspective, being half that at £49 a pair (Sunspel is £37).

I feel this expertise is a helpful one to convey up on PS, as a result of it additionally raises a broader level about luxurious. 

There’s a tendency amongst those who search the finer issues in life to imagine that issues which are actually finer are higher. It’s a part of the explanation superfine wools have been such a pattern in fits for years, with everybody competing to make finer and finer product. The identical occurred with superfine shirtings too, regardless of them being an absolute bastard to take care of. Individuals simply love a numerical system; it means they don’t must assume. 

Fortunately we’ve come by the worst of that, and luxurious shoppers (or a minimum of PS readers) recognize {that a} furry Harris Tweed has its personal, fully separate enchantment. That goes for heavy flannel too, or cordovan.

And in reality for cheaper supplies. Good flannel and cordovan are costly, however the type of coarse cotton you discover in workwear chinos does not must be, and a baseball cap must be made out of an inexpensive cotton. As a result of its enchantment is the way in which it fades and frays – that is the aesthetic. A luxurious baseball cap is senseless.

I assume there’s additionally some extent right here about ostentatious luxurious – about those who need supplies that look costly to indicate they’re rich. In spite of everything, if the wealthy don’t put on logos anymore, they’ve received to do one thing proper? 

Superfine supplies might be nice, however they need to be thought-about on their model deserves as a lot as their luxuriousness. 

I discover superfine merino helpful for a specific sort of knit, for instance, usually as a layering piece. But when breathability is the precedence, one thing high-twist however not essentially as tremendous is healthier. 

Superfine jersey is a fabric I don’t have a lot use for in my mode of dressing. However I’m certain there are readers on the market who love that silky contact, even when it’s simply in a base-layer T-shirt. To them, I will surely advocate Stefan Brandt, on high quality and on worth.