Island Diary.

During Pitti Uomo, we had the opportunity to visit our main specialist yarn partner for many years, Filati Biagioli Modesto, about 45 minutes outside of Florence. We wanted to try to better understand the process of yarn creation and what makes the yarns that we use super-premium, and it was indeed a fascinating visit. Filati Biagioli Modesto (FBM) was founded in 1919 and until recently was still fully owned by the founding Biagioli family. Four years ago, Prada and Zegna, acquired an 80% stake in the company, however the family’s ethos of care and attention to detail along each step of the process remains very much intact.

These top-flight global luxury brands were already sourcing yarn with FBM along with many other big luxury names, attracted to their reputation is as one of the highest quality yarn companies in the world. While embracing the latest technologies, they are also still using some very antique machinery, specially designed by the Biagioli family to use their own techniques to produce the highest quality yarn. The factory even has a large mechanical workshop, as if one of these uniquely designed antique machines breaks down, a new part has to be made onsite as no replacement parts can be sourced anywhere else. We were intrigued to see how lengthy the process of designing and producing the highest quality yarn is and how much care is taken along each step of the way.

As with many things in life, the first step to creating something of the highest quality is to use the highest quality raw ingredients. Founder Modesto Biagioli travelled far and wide to form direct contact with shepherds in the locations with the climates known for the best animal fibres. This allowed FBM to learn to recognise, appreciate and above all, selectively choose only the best fibres which undergo meticulous analysis on arrival in Italy. Once approved the fibres begin the lengthy production process – beginning with flake preparation, then colour development, dying, carding, spinning and twisting – however each one of these steps has several stages with quality control checks between each one.

The best quality cashmere is defined as that with the finest and longest fibres. All of the Merino component of our yarns is Responsible Wool Standard Certified and all of our Biagioli yarns are a maximum thickness of 17.5 microns which means they are superbly soft, yet stable and sturdy due to the care taken in twisting the yarn and the long length of the top quality fibres used. To feel the softness of these special fibres as they arrive to Italy and then to see how this softness is preserved as the fibres are carefully transformed into yarns for us to knit was remarkable. Filati Biagioli Modesto’s website has more images and information about the extensive process of yarn design if you may be interested to read more.

Anything this good takes time, so there can be from one to two months required for FBM to create and ship a yarn order to us in Inis Meáin. This means that it is not always feasible for us to reknit styles that sell out. However we did have some extra yarn available in classic colours to be able to do a limited reknit on some timeless FBM yarn pieces included below – Celebration Aran Sweaters in Beige Fleck and Navy Fleck, our Classic Crew Neck in Blue Fleck and Navy Fleck, and the Robb Report Patented Aran Sweater in the intriguing Blue Mix. All designed, made and hand-finished in our Aran Islands’ workshop, using super-premium Cashmere and Merino yarns made with the upmost care at Filati Biagioli Modesto, just outside Florence, Italy.