For several years I was lucky enough to spend time on the wonderful island of Anguilla. Situated in the Leeward islands of the Eastern Caribbean. It was where I first learned of the unique and extraordinary cotton yarn from this area.
Sea Island cotton is both the softest and most durable cotton in the world. It is also the rarest only 4/10,000th of 1% of the world’s cotton is WISIC. This makes Sea Island Cotton 5 times more expensive than the next best grade cotton. The best can only be grown in the small land masses of the Caribbean Islands which have the right amount of sunshine, rain, humidity, as well as a dry season and wet season in the right sequence for the right duration. No other area of the world matches that. The Eastern Islands of the Caribbean have particularly perfect conditions for growing and the best of the best is grown from the Gossypium barbadense seed. West Indian Sea Island Cotton is not as famous as Egyptian cotton but it is superior and it is the rarest.
The majority of Sea Island cotton produced in the Caribbean is acquired by Swiss Firm Spoerry established since 1866. Spoerry 1866 brand themselves as the soul of fine textiles. Their manufactured Sea Island cotton has been the foundation of Spoerry’s rare and precious top quality yarns for over 140 years. These precious fibres are cultivated exclusively on the British West Indies islands in the Caribbean. WISICA International (West Indian Sea Island Cotton Association International) is a specialist organisation which inspects and certifies every kilogram of locally produced cotton. Spoerry SEA ISLAND is the unique quality yarn which has a natural silken sheen, is soft as cashmere, long-lasting as wool, highly durable and has the perfect yarn structure.