Superlative fabrications are the bedrock of Loro Piana, the Italian fashion house which began as a wool trader in the early 1800s. This has required expeditions around the world to source raw, natural materials, from the plains of Mongolia and its Hercus cashmere goats to the verdant green fields of New Zealand, a destination for the world’s finest merino wool (the country’s award-winning fibres are finer than a human hair). Completing the circle, the spoils of their travels are then taken back to Italy, where yarns are spun, materials created, and garments stitched into their final forms.
The house’s latest innovation encapsulates this approach: titled ‘Royal Lightness’, it comprises both a yarn – a blend of silk and merino wool – and a fabric, which combines silk and cashmere (the latter is just 350 grams per metre). Both were developed in Loro Piana’s facilities in Roccapietra and Quarona in Italy’s northern Piedmont region, and require specially trained craftspeople to work with the gossamer-like materials due to the risk of damage or broken threads (currently, there are just a handful with the artisanal know-how in the world).
A look from Loro Piana’s S/S 2026 collection constructed from the new Royal Lightness fabric
The yarn is particularly impressive, achieved by blending Mulberry silk – the finest silk in the world, measuring 21 deniers – and merino wool, sourced from Australia and New Zealand (the latter is just 13.5 microns, placing it in the finest 0.05 per cent of merino wool currently in production). The finished Royal Lightness yarn is made through an intricate process in which the raw materials are first carefully combed before the silk and merino strands are gently twisted together. Finally, the yarn is sealed – a process which gives it a gentle sheen – before being spun into ‘ethereal’ knitwear in the collection.
The fabric, meanwhile, comprises Mulberry silk and cashmere – the latter the material with which Loro Piana remains synonymous (the house became a major cashmere importer in the 1940s; now, it boasts visibility across its entire cashmere supply chain, from the Mongolian Steppes to its Italian factories). The double-sided material sees ultra-lightweight 21-denier organzino silk threads wrapped around long-fibre cashmere, lending both a lustrous finish and the requisite strength for weaving. Once woven, the fabric is tumbled for a ‘fluffy, raised’ pile before being brushed and shaved.
The Royal Lightness fabric, which can only be handled by a small number of Loro Piana artisans
Though it is the final step that requires the most care: the fabric layers are fell-stitched, a historic process that allows two layers of material to be stitched together (nearly) invisibly. At Loro Piana, this is done entirely by hand with a thread and needle – a time-intensive process that the house says gives an ‘immaculate finish’.
Despite having just launched for S/S 2026, there is already an extensive wardrobe of pieces in the Royal Lightness yarn and fabric, from delicate knitted polo shirts and sweaters – designed for springtime layering – to elegant belted overcoats, draped skirts, and roomy Caban blazers. Colours span classic Loro Piana hues of beige, black and navy to cheerful hues of pale yellow, blue and vivid cherry red.
The Royal Lightness collection is available from Loro Piana’s website.
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