Apparel | Friday, July 02, 2010

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A SHORT (AND SELECT) HISTORY OF SUPIMA

By Greg Wang

6,000 B.C.
In South America, predecessors of the Incas cultivate a type of luxurious extra- long staple cotton that will become the predecessor of Supima.

5,000 B.C.
Cotton cultivation begins in the Indus Valley: The cotton in Asia is not as soft or luxurious as the cotton produced in the Western Hemisphere, but it’s enough to reinforce the Indian subcontinent’s reputation as a center of textile production.

327 B.C.
Alexander III of Macedonia returns to the Mediterranean after defeat in the Indus. Foiled in his attempt to conquer the world, he does succeed in introducing cotton—“trees upon which wool grows”—to Europe and the Middle East.

1493
Christopher Columbus returns to Europe after an exploratory voyage in which he discovers that softer, fluffier and more luxurious cotton is grown in the New World.

1825
Entranced by the softness of the cottons found in the Western Hemisphere, Egyptian entrepreneurs bring plants from the New World back to the Old World and cross them with tree cottons: Egyptian cotton is born. It’s good, but it’s still not Supima.

1911
Breeding from the world’s best luxury cottons, a U.S.D.A. experimental farm in Sacaton, Arizona isolates a particularly strong and soft type of extra-long staple cotton, and names it “Pima” in honor of the area’s Pima Indians. Supima is born.

1912
The first commercial crop of the new cotton is produced: 375 bales. It’s a small start, but Pima is on its way.

1916
Seeking cotton that is sturdier than upland cotton—and with the supply of Egyptian cotton cut off by World War I—an enterprising engineer at Goodyear heads to Arizona and the newfangled Pima. The new cotton works so well that Goodyear eventually buys 36,000 acres in Arizona and stick with Pima even after the end of the war.

1920
Yet another boll weevil infestation wipes out the remaining crop of Sea Island cotton. During the following decades, real estate developers do the rest: Kiawah, Edisto, and Hilton Head turn from the luxury fiber industry to the luxury resort industry.

1927
Charles Lindbergh flies solo across the Atlantic in plane built partially of American Pima cotton—a fiber chosen for its strength relative to its weight. “Lucky Lindy” becomes an international hero.

1954
To deal with a spiraling demand for high- quality Pima cotton produced in the U.S., Supima is founded as a marketing and promotional organization in El Paso, Texas. Its name comes from a contraction of the words “Superior” and “Pima.”

1964
After becoming a favorite of Coco Chanel and starring in movies opposite Cary Grant and Gary Cooper, supermodel Suzy Parker stars in an ad campaign for Supima, America’s luxury fiber.

1988
Supima launches its export promotion program: Soon after, America’s luxury fiber becomes the first choice of Swiss and Italian high-end spinners and shirting mills.

1990
Supima launches its licensing program for brands and retailers. Brooks Brothers soon partners with Supima as a licensee.

2002
With the premium denim trend in full swing, Japanese, Italian, and Turkish denim mills turn to Supima cotton for its blend of luxury and toughness.

2004
Supima celebrates both its 50-year anniversary and a record crop: close to 750,000 bales. The press calls it “a Cinderella story.” Supima now boasts 200 licensees in 41 countries.

2006
Harking back to the kind of high-fashion look that distinguished its 1960s campaigns, Supima shoots its award-winning “Sea of Cotton” advertising.

2006
For its July issue, British Vogue commissions reporter Sarah Harris to discover what makes the perfect T-shirt. The answer is Supima.

2007
In January, Supima launches PREFAB, a premium sourcing show featuring only Supima partner mills and licensees. The press immediately calls it the industry’s “Elite Meet.”

2008
Supima does a month-long “pop up” store in SoHo, a prime shopping and tourist destination in New York, introducing New Yorkers to licensees ranging from Bodas to Faribault.

2008
Responding to both an industry need for innovation and emerging designers’ need for exposure, Supima launches its Design Competition. Finalists are given top-quality Supima fabrics and asked to show their resulting eveningwear in a live runway finale. The first contest is so successful that it becomes an annual event.

2009
In extensive clinical testing conducted by Yehia Elmogahzy Ph.D., a renowned textile expert and professor at Auburn University, Supima outperforms other varieties of cotton—including Egyptian cotton and “regular” cotton—on every front.

2010
In conjunction with Bloomingdale’s, Supima debuts the Supima Collection, a line of unisex T-shirts and top intended the fill the market need for luxury basics.