Here are some of world’s most expensive fabrics.
Expensive fabrics have always been a cornerstone of trade; so much so, in fact, that some species have been hunted nearly to extinction. Such is the case with the vicuña, a South American relative of the llama and the alpaca. The vicuña’s rarity and the difficulties inherent in harvesting the skittish animal’s coat have made it the most expensive wool in the world.
Holland and Sherry—a Scottish textile company that has outfitted George Clooney, Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise—has recently announced their production of the most expensive cloth in the world. The fabric is the first in the world to be woven from 100% worsted vicuña.
Vicuña is the world’s most expensive wool and can only be shorn from the animal once every three years. The cloth can be purchased in three different colors—natural, midnight and black. Their offering, priced at £3,000 (US $4,319) per yard, falls as being the world’s one of the most expensive fabric.
Scabal—whose clients include Bill Clinton, Daniel Craig, Robert DeNiro and Jack Nicholson—announced their expensive fabric a mere eight months before Holland and Sherry announced theirs. Also made of vicuña, Scabal has gone one step further by weaving gold into the cloth. The result is the Gold Treasure range, priced at £4,000 (US $5,759) per meter—that works out to $1,755 per foot.
So, it does deserve a mention as one of the ‘world’s most expensive fabric’.
The vicuña’s coat is desirable because it’s the finest wool in the world and, more importantly, because of its warmth. The expensive wool’s tiny scales interlock, trapping insulating air to keep its wearer warm. Today, there are around 125,000 vicuñas—many of them under the protection of Peruvian law.
A single vicuña produces a pound of wool every year which, under Peru’s labeling system, can only be harvested every three years. They are captured, sheared alive and returned to the wild. Garments from clothiers such as Ibanez come with government certification as proof that the vicuña wool was legally harvested.
The wool is usually left its natural color because it’s very sensitive to chemical treatment. Vicuña is the national animal of Peru.
Mulberry silk, Muga silk, Spider silk, velvet and Charmeuse silk are the most famous and royal silk fabrics. Mulberry silk is the finest and soft silk which is the most expensive silk fabric in the world! Even Cashmere silk and vucana silk are famous for their quality.
Fur is the oldest fabric worn since ages. Fur clothes are considered as one of the most luxurious apparel fabrics in the world. The soft animal fur is used to make clothes, home decor items and accessories. Leopard fur prints are considered as the most expensive fur fabric.
Linen is another expensive fabric which offers quality and style! It is expensive because it is woven and the fabric is produced by growing flax plants. The quality of linen depends on the plant. Linen is a preferred fabric because it is moth resistant, light and can dry easily.
