Cloth guide for tailors, brands and buyers
Loro Piana fabric
Loro Piana has woven in Trivero, in the Biella district of Piedmont, since 1924, and is known less for a house style than for buying fibre at the very top of the market: superfine Australian merino, Mongolian cashmere, Andean vicuña. Most people searching for the cloth do not want a roll of it. They want a garment in it. This page covers what a garment actually takes, what the numbers on a bunch mean, and the three ways to get one made. Centi Sartoria buys this cloth as a customer of the mill like any other maker. We are not an authorised dealer, a licensee or a representative, and we do not speak for Loro Piana.
How much cloth a garment takes
| Cloth needed | Typical weight | Best suited to | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two-piece suit | 3.2 to 3.5 m | 240 to 280 g/m | Year-round wear in most climates |
| Three-piece suit | 3.8 to 4.0 m | 240 to 300 g/m | Autumn through spring, formal work |
| Jacket alone | 2.0 to 2.2 m | 260 to 340 g/m | Odd jackets, where more weight helps the drape |
| Trousers alone | 1.3 to 1.5 m | 250 to 320 g/m | Anything under 240 g creases and seats quickly |
| Overcoat | 3.0 to 3.4 m | 400 to 650 g/m | Real winter, where the weight is the point |
| Waistcoat alone | 0.8 to 1.0 m | Matches the suit | Adding a third piece to an existing order |
Ranges assume cloth around 150 cm wide and a normal adult size. A tall wearer, a large chest, a strong pattern that has to be matched across seams, or a double-breasted cut all push the requirement toward the top of the range, sometimes past it. Always confirm the cut length with whoever is making the garment before buying cloth, because a shortfall of ten centimetres is not recoverable once the roll is sold on.
What the numbers on the bunch mean
The five terms that decide whether a cloth suits the garment you have in mind.
- Bunch
- The physical swatch book a mill issues, usually by season and by cloth family. A bunch is how the trade actually chooses cloth: you feel the hand, look at the pattern at scale, and read the reference number. Ordering by photograph is how people end up disappointed, because screens do not carry weight, drape or the depth of a dyed yarn.
- Super number
- Super 100s, 130s, 150s and upward measure the fineness of the yarn, not the quality of the cloth. Finer yarn feels softer and takes light more beautifully, and past a point it also creases sooner and wears faster. For a suit that goes to work five days a week, Super 110s to 130s is usually the more intelligent buy than the highest number in the book.
- Grams per metre
- The single most useful number on a bunch and the one most often ignored. It tells you the season. Under 240 g is summer cloth that will crease. 240 to 280 g is the year-round range most business suits live in. Over 340 g is autumn and winter. Over 400 g is coating.
- Fibre source
- Loro Piana buys named fibre rather than commodity wool: superfine Australian merino for suiting, Mongolian and Chinese cashmere, vicuña from Peru. This is why two cloths at the same Super number from different mills do not feel the same. The yarn started differently.
- Cut length
- The metres a specific garment needs for a specific person, worked out from the pattern, not from a table. It is the number to ask your maker for before you buy cloth, and the number a maker should be able to give you without hedging.
Frequently asked questions
How much Loro Piana fabric do I need for a suit?
About 3.2 to 3.5 metres for a two-piece and 3.8 to 4.0 metres for a three-piece, at roughly 150 cm width and a normal adult size. Add cloth for a tall wearer, a large chest, a double-breasted cut, or any pattern that must be matched across the seams. Ask the maker for the cut length for that specific person before you buy, because a shortfall cannot be fixed later.
Is Loro Piana fabric worth the price?
For a garment you will wear for years, the fibre and the finishing are where the money goes and they are genuinely different. For a first suit, or a suit that will be worn hard five days a week, the honest answer is that a mid-weight cloth at a lower Super number from a good mill will look nearly as well and last considerably longer. The most expensive cloth in the book is rarely the most sensible cloth in the book.
Can I supply my own Loro Piana cloth and have it made up?
Yes, this is normal trade practice and is usually called cut, make and trim. You send the cloth, the maker cuts and makes it. The two things that matter are that you send enough, worked out from the pattern rather than a table, and that both sides agree in writing what happens if the garment misses, since the cloth is not replaceable once it is cut.
What is the difference between Loro Piana and Zegna cloth?
Both are Biella-area Italian mills at the top of the market and either will make a beautiful suit. Broadly, Loro Piana is associated with rare fibre and a softer, more luxurious hand, and Zegna with technical performance and cloths engineered for travel and hard wear. In practice the choice is better made by handling both bunches in the weight you actually need than by the reputation of the name.
Is a suit made in Loro Piana cloth made in Italy?
The cloth is woven in Italy. Where the garment is made is a separate question with a separate answer, and origin labelling generally follows where the garment was made up rather than where the cloth was woven. Our own garments are made in our Shanghai atelier, in cloth from Italian and British mills, and we say so plainly. Any supplier who blurs that line for you is likely to blur other things later.
Do you stock Loro Piana cloth?
We hold cloth from a range of European mills and can quote on Loro Piana references from the current bunches. Availability is by reference and by season rather than a permanent stock list, so the practical step is to tell us the reference or the effect you want and we will confirm what can be had and by when. We buy as a customer of the mill and are not an authorised dealer.
Can a tailoring shop or brand order in Loro Piana cloth from you?
Yes. That is most of what we do: made-to-measure suits, jackets and coats under a shop's or a brand's own label, from a one-piece minimum, in about 14 to 20 working days once the cloth is in hand. Your label goes in the garment, your client stays yours, and the cloth reference is yours to choose.
Have a garment made in the cloth you want
Tell us the reference or just the effect you are after, and we will confirm what is available, what the cut length is for your client, and what it costs. One piece is a normal order.