The Queen of Cotton - GIZA 45

Egyptian cotton has been renowned for centuries for its preciousness. The particular climatic conditions and fertility of the earth alongside the river Nile, especially at its delta enable the cultivation of the best cotton in the world, thanks to the unique ingredients offered by nature. The inexhaustible supply of water and fertile silt which irrigates the land caused the Greek author Herodotus to write that “Egypt is a gift of the Nile”.

The annual rainfall of around 190mm mostly falls between October and April and is particularly concentrated in a few days of abundant rain. The humidity of the air, owing to the frequent breezes coming from the North is also rather high. Any extremes of temperature are also low, owing to the mildness of the winds which blow down from the Mediterranean Sea.

The cotton is planted at the End of March when the temperature is quite mild. This mildness allows the lower branches of the plant to grow, whilst the bolls that develop in the shade are not scorched by the direct heat of the sun. In July and August, during the formation of the cotton fibre, the climate is very stable and favourable to the production of regular and uniform fibres, which are then harvested in September.

The Giza 45 plants are cultivated in a very small area to the East of the Nile delta, and they represent only 0.4% of the total annual Egyptian cotton production. The cotton is picked by hand in five separate phases which ensures that only the bolls with the correct maturity are selected. Moreover the careful cultivation and the manual harvesting avoids the use of defoliants and chemical products which are normally associated with mechanical harvesting.

 

The fibres of the Giza 45 cotton production have an extraordinary staple length that easily surpasses +36 mm, and a unique uniformity index of 88.5%. Furthermore what makes this cotton exceptional amongst all extra-long staple cottons is the fineness of its fibres on average 2.95 microns (see table 1). To obtain the finest yarn counts like 2/200s, 2/240s, and 2/300s, David and John Anderson are even more selective and select those with fineness to 2.80 microns.

 
Despite its fineness, the strength of the Giza 45 fibre remains high, about 44.3gms/tex which is similar to that of less fine cottons like Giza 88. This relationship of fibre and strength makes it possible to spin the best yarns in the world. Because of the fineness of the staple yarn of Giza 45 it is possible to insert a greater number of elementary fibres whose adjacent connection gives greater strength as graphically illustrated by the diagram.

 

In table 2 you will observe a comparison of 2/140s yarn count spun from different cotton fibres. Strength, cleanness and regularity are the uniquely excellent characteristics of Giza 45 Cotton. This exceptional cotton yarn gives rise to fine but resilient shirting fabrics with an extraordinary soft and silky handle, which make the best shirts in the whole world. The highest level fabrics of David & John Anderson and Thomas Mason are 100% created from Giza 45 cotton.