2020s

Purotatto top of MicroModal (lyocell) regenerated cellulose and casein fibre 

Object number: MoDiP: AIBDC: 009064

Designer/Maker/Manufacturer/Retailer: Sabintima SRL [designer and manufacturer for their brand Purotatto]         

Production country of the garment and components: Italy

Production date: circa 2021

Description: A blush pink long sleeved, roll neck top. ‘PUROTATTO MADE IN ITALY’ is printed centrally on the inside back panel below the neck seam. The material is 60% lyocell, a regenerated (LINK) cellulosic fibrel and 40% casein (milk) fibre.

Context: This top was part of Purotatto’s A/W 2021 womenswear collection. Its retail price was £99.00. On an attached paper swing tag, shaped like a milk bottle, the company promoted the sensory qualities of milk protein fabric and by implication its luxuriousness. ‘Like Milk on the Skin. This garment is made of a milk protein fabric. It is lightweight, soft and smooth like silk. This transpiring fabric makes the garment as comfortable as a second skin’. The milk fibre is blended with MicroModal which has similar qualities but is more resistant to shrinking. It is a very fine, soft, High Wet Modulus fibre. Contrary to the information printed on the label in the side seam, the same chemicals that are used to produce viscose rayon are also used in the manufacture of MicroModal. However, MicroModal is currently only produced by Lenzing AG in factories in the European Union using wood pulp from sustainably managed plantations. It is made in a closed loop process. The production process employed to create milk fibre protein is more obscure. The Purotatto website states that its manufacture involves dehydrated milk and bioengineering.

Labels/Inscriptions: Printed on woven labels sewn into a side seam:

Label 1: 42/purotatto.com/MADE IN ITALY/This garment is the result of a careful selection of very finest natural threads, and has undergone no chemical treatment. We recommend you take the same care when washing it, following the instructions on the label. Produced and distributed by Sabintima Srl.’ This text is repeated in Italian.

Label 2: 60% MICROMODAL/ 40% FIBRA DI LATTE MILK FIB

Letters applied to fabric inside back neck: PUROTATTO MADE IN ITALY.

Methods:

  • Fibre manufacture: Extruded            
  • Thread manufacture: Spun
  • Fabric construction: Knitted
  • Garment construction: Stitched                            

Material: 60% lyocell (MicroModal), 40% casein fibre

Measurements: Length at centre back from nape of neck 600mm

Source: Gift

Link to the owning museum’s documentation: https://www.modip.ac.uk/artefact/aibdc-009064