Just Launched. The Corduroy.
10 wale. 100% cotton. From Brisbane Moss Mills.
For this launch we are offering the cord in two new colours.
Classic, timeless black.
And a rich, warm mid-brown that makes us think of maple syrup.
And that’s not the only difference this year.
This cord is a 10 wale (our previous cord was an 8 wale jumbo cord).
It’s a little but finer than previous years, slightly less bulky.
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Quick Back Story on Corduroy.
Corduroy dates back to ancient Egypt, where fabric was woven near the ancient capital of Al-Fustat.
Named after the city, this heavy fabric became known as Fustian.
Unlike corduroy today, it didn’t have the raised texture.
The corduroy we know and love originated in 19th Century Manchester, where its hard-wearing nature made it ideal for factory wear.
For this reason, corduroy is known as ‘Manchester’ in some parts of Europe.
It was also adopted as part of military uniforms - including the corduroy breeches worn by the Women’s Land Army during World War II.
Geeky to know.
Corduroy is a woven cloth traditionally having a high ratio of weft threads to warp threads.
Thus giving the appearance of a smooth weft faced fabric, usually thick and strong, and mostly made of cotton.
For corduroy the smooth face of the fabric is interrupted by equally spaced ribs, or races, running the length of the piece.
Before the dyeing process these are cut on specialised machines to form ribs of raised pile, they are known as wales which differentiate the character of each corduroy product.
What are wales?
Wales are the raised ridges which make corduroy, corduroy. These are what differentiate the character of each corduroy.
This corduroy we have chosen is a 10 wale.
So that means, it has 10 ridges per inch.
The traditional cord wale is between 10-12.
So we’ve gone with the classic.
Our previous cord was an 8 wale, the jumbo cord.
Needlecord has finer ribs of 14 to 18.
Pincord or Babycord has a finer wale again of 18-22 ribs per inch. This looks more like velvet.
The Unofficial Corduroy Fan Club.
After years of ebb and flow, it was claimed that The Beatles "saved the British corduroy industry".
Its popularity continued through the late 1960s and early 1970s, when five pocket corduroy jeans or corduroy jackets hung in millions of closets.
During the 1980s, corduroy was famously colourful and used for California-cool shorts.
The movie director Wes Anderson’s tailor, Vahram Mateosian was awarded an “Exemplary Usage of Corduroy” award for his employment of the fabric in Anderson’s personal wardrobe and throughout “The Royal Tenenbaums” movie.
A fine distinction for a unique fabric, indeed.
Known members of the corduroy fan club were Bob Dylan, Pablo Picasso, Mick Jagger, Brigitte Bardot just to name a few.
From photographers to musicians.
Authors to actors.
Corduroy has always found its creative tribe.
The Official Cord Fan Club.
Miles Rohan always wanted to start a club. Also, he really liked corduroy.
So he established the Corduroy Appreciation Club. November 11 was chosen as “Corduroy Day,” under the logic that 11/11 best personifies corduroy’s wales. Get it?
(Sadly, the Corduroy Appreciation Club officially disbanded on 11/11/11 – the date that looks the MOST like corduroy.)
