Scabal Talk Kapok

Botanical Textiles

Scabal — the tailoring and textiles business with an operational mill in Huddersfield and a flagship shop and tailors in Savile Row — has released a new collection of fabrics using threads from the Kapok tree. This innovation in botanical textiles required the company to invent a new way of spinning the fluffy silk-like fibre that envelops the kapok's seed pods. The fibre is naturally water-resistant as it is intended as a flotation aid when the seeds decide to take a dip in the ocean and migrate to a new home.

Scabal's weaving wizards have blended the kapok fibre with cotton. The result, they say, is a cloth with a 'pleasing feel against the skin, and a solid texture', and with better drape than out-and-out cotton to boot. The cloth is available in a variety of shades and weighs in at a summery 10.5 oz. Move over fresco, Madras and seersucker.