Zegna Baruffa Lane Borgosesia, Italian spinner and the world leader in the production of fine yarns for top-quality knitwear has developed a new manufacturing process, which adds vital properties such as higher wrinkle resistance and natural elasticity to its yarns.

The process, called H2Dry, is also said to improve total easy care properties, ie. allowing garments to be machine-washed and tumble-dried for the easiest garment care, while also helping to wick moisture away from the body.

The company said that they were proud to introduce to the market the result of extensive research made in the Zegna Baruffa laboratories that will add performance to yarns made from natural fibers that have hitherto been unattainable. It is an exclusive and unique manufacturing process and the first step in a project that will allow them to apply a special treatment to new yarns and fibers according to the needs of the market.

Zegna has started the project with two pure wool yarns which have different characteristics to the raw materials but with the same performance. They are Re-Active, a particularly fine wool with counts that can reach 2/80Nm, for extremely sophisticated and almost weightless knitwear; and K-Wool, a high quality wool with counts more suitable for traditional knitwear.

The H2Dry process also forms part of the luxury yarn spinner's new collection of yarns that will be on show at next week’s Pitti Filati exhibition.

Performance yarns and new fancy yarns enrich the new Baruffa Yarns Collection with Cashwool continuing to play an important role. Top selected Mohair and Alpaca are in the forefront of this collection. Airy in which the luster of mohair combines with the concreteness of wool – is a worsted yarn as light and impalpable as air, ideal to create ethereal and hyper-feminine garments.

From an unusual combination between components and structures Alpasoft and Alpalight have been developed. They are the new face of Alpaca - two particularly interesting light fancy yarns.

Chiavazza’s Autumn Winter 2016-17 offering include Cashmere 2/28, which is accompanied by the newborn Contemporary Cashmere, in-keeping with its heritage. The garments become more compact, though without abandoning their traditional softness and lightness, which make cashmere a unique fibre.

These include Babà, an iconic yarn renewed by its new “Lurex” version; and Supergeelong, updated in Woolight version with a new appearance and handle.

For Botto Poala, the H2Dry process was used to produce Re-Active And K-Cashmere, a 50% cashmere 50% wool yarn, which is total easy care, breathable, crease-resistant, naturally elastic: a peerless , sweet, light performance yarn for the contemporary marketplace.

Also new is Jade which with its combination of wool/silk /cashmere, can be machine washed.

Today, Zegna Baruffa Lane Borgosesia buys 10 million kilograms of raw Australian Merino wool. The superfine Merino wool, combined with a vast range of rich yarns such as cashmere and top-quality pure or blended fibres, creates over 6.5 million kilograms of yarn for the company’s knitwear products each year.