S3 / One Pleat – Checked Tweed

The use of tweed became widespread in late Victorian England for old sports (such as hunting) and new sports (such as cycling and golf).
Good society appreciated tweed for its country spirit and rusticity, as opposed to the smoother, more formal fabrics used for town clothes. Tweed was strong, warm and durable, as it was woven from very strong carded wools.

Many regions of northern Europe produced tweeds of varying qualities: Harris tweed in the north of Scotland, Shetland tweed in the islands of the same name, Donegal tweed with speckled effects in Ireland, the softer Saxony tweed in Germany, etc.
As a result, tweed is not a material (like wool or cotton) or a way of weaving (like flannel or velvet). It is in fact a word that designates a rather rustic fabric (made of wool, wool & cashmere, why not lambswool) woven in canvas or herringbone, plain or checked.

At Scavini, we classify fabrics that fit this description as tweed. Tweed is a warm, rustic spirit for winter. A fabric with a character that smells of walks in the woods and fishing parties. It’s also very pleasant in the city, as a complement to a Barbour.

We enjoy working with small wool companies, especially when they are located in the foothills of the Italian Alps. Di Pray is a company with tradition.

The Di Pray wool adventure began in 1948 in Sandigliano. This family-run business, run by the Rosa family, specialises in carded and semi-combed woollens. So not very luxurious woollens, but good solid classics for men’s clothing, such as tweed. In a textile sector that was severely affected by globalisation at the beginning of the 1980s, Di Pray opted for the authentic. His collaborations with the major Italian clothing workshops such as Belvest and Canali enabled him to continue working with natural materials, wool and cashmere, pure wool, alpaca, yak hair, and even linen and silk. Di Pray has been producing quality sheets for decades, combining tradition and wise design.

A pair of trousers is not just fabric. It’s also a belt lining and pocket lining. And buttons. All Italian.

The waistband lining is made up of three superimposed fabrics. The top band is made of 100% cotton sky blue oxford, the bottom band is made of 100% cotton unbleached and un-dyed twill, both separated by a white viscose poplin anti-slip piping with Scavini embroidery. White topstitching reinforces the assembly. The pocket bottoms are cut from the same unbleached and undyed 100% cotton twill. The absence of dye is the best option from a hypoallergenic point of view. It also allows for relative discretion of the pocket bottoms behind light coloured fabrics.
The waistband lining and the pocket bottoms are prefabricated by the Italian company FVL created in 1990, guaranteeing ISO and GOTS certified quality standards. FVL is particularly involved in the subject of sustainability and ethical and social protocols, with continuous control of the production process and a fast and efficient traceability system.

Finally, for buttons, we don’t go far either, always in Veneto. At Bottonificio Padano, established in 1982. We have chosen to use exclusively corozo, called vegetable ivory, which is natural and biodegradable. In fact, the hard, white, horny albumen of the seed of a tropical American palm tree. Bottonificio Padano aims to eliminate chemical pollutants and use increasingly natural pigments. Since 1982, all the water used in production, including that used for dyeing and tumbling, is purified and reused, in a “closed cycle”, without any discharge into the external environment.

Dry cleaning is highly recommended for wool trousers. However, it should not be done often: only once a year, or even less! A simple steam ironing at home or at the dry cleaner’s is enough in most cases to remove odours, bacteria and to make the trousers look good again.

To tidy it up? There is nothing better than a hanger with bar or clip, as we propose in our “Accessories”. If you don’t have one, no problem! In this case, a simple and clean folding of the pants should be considered. As a precaution, it is recommended not to close the buttons.