A High Super Number I love: Utopias Super 180's Suiting Fabrics
A Custom Suit in a Super 180’s Fabric
Is it worth the money? Yeah. It is.
If you’ve ever come to me to have a bespoke suit made, then you’ll know that I am not a big fan of high super numbers and their value-performance-cost proposition. This is the exception. I’m loving the super 180’s in this book. Here’s why…
Super 180’s Suiting Fabric by Utopia for Gladsons. Australian Merino Wool, Made in England.
Super 180’s Luxury. Day in Day out Performance.
When it comes to high super numbers, a great “hand” is a given. This stuff feels amazing between your fingers…more so than other super 180’s fabrics I’ve felt in the past. What really impressed me about it was that the fabric was incredibly stable making it easy to tailor.
During the steam shrinking process I noticed how uniformly the fabric reacted. Anything above super 150’s tends to be unstable. A lot of mills, in order to maximize the softness of the fabric, tend to give high super numbers too much stretch. That bounce in the fabric makes it really hard to tailor. This Fabric didn’t have that flaw.
The Finished Jacket: Super 180’s Custom Suit, Light Gray. 2 Button, Single Breasted, Notch Lapel, A suit with the perfect amount of luxury and performance
What Makes this Super 180’s Fabric Unique
Two things really stood out
This fabric has some weight to it: Most mills tend to make their Super 180’s in a 6.5oz weight, the thought is it makes the fabric feel more “luxurious” but also less weight means less yarn and fibers. 14.5 micron fibers are rare. This Super 180’s is made in an 8.5oz weight, which is the ideal weight for a day in day out suit.
The fabric is made using 2 ply yarns: When it comes to high super numbers like super 180’s most mills wont use 2-ply yarn. 2 ply means that the fibers are milled into a thinner yarn, then two of the yarns are twisted together to form the yarn that will be woven into the finished fabric. It takes more time, uses more fibers and adds more weight. All things most mills want to avoid in their ultra luxury fabrics. The 2 ply yarn makes this suit stable, easy to sew, and above all durable enough to wear every week.
The up close finish on the super 180’s fabrics. Great sheen and body with out sacrificing performance
Australian Wool + Made in England
How Rare are Super 180’s + Fabrics?
Very. The exact farm in New South Wales, Australia where this fabric comes from has over 1800 merino sheep. The fibers this fabric uses, 14.5 microns, can only be harvested from 50 of them. The stock is then processed in England. The fact that they use more fibers and more yarn is truly impressive to me. The part that boggles my mind…for a fabric using a lot of rare wool fibers, and milled in England its surprisingly fairly priced. Most super 180’s suits (like actual super 180’s) I see in the market, Custom or Off-the-Rack, are usually in the $6000 (Zegna RTW) - $9000 (Isaia, Brioni). The price point of the fabric allows us to make a 2 pc suit for roughly $3500. (unless your Shaq’s size then its more). While that isn’t inexpensive, Its a great value for a luxury fabric that can make a custom suit that has the performance and wearability that this does.
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