The case for natural fibers in everyday tailoring

The cheapest way to make a blazer look expensive on a hanger is to blend in 30% polyester. The cheapest way to make it feel cheap two hours into a workday is the same thing. Synthetics don''t breathe. They hold static. They go shiny at the elbows after a season of wear.

We use four natural fibers at the atelier, in roughly this order of frequency: wool (Super 120s and 130s from Vitale Barberis Canonico), cotton (heavyweight twill and lightweight poplin from Albini), linen (only Italian flax, only on Spring/Summer pieces), and silk (almost exclusively as lining or trim, never as a structural shell).

Why no polyester, ever

A wool blazer with good shoulder construction will outlast three poly-blend versions of the same piece. The wool ages — it doesn''t degrade. The shoulder line softens and shapes to its wearer; the lapel learns a roll; the cloth picks up the patina of being lived in. None of that happens to a 30/70 blend.

The math we care about: a $980 Mercer blazer worn 80 times a year for six years works out to about $2 per wear. The fast-fashion equivalent at $180, worn twelve times before it pills, is $15. We''ll take the wool.