The shirt consists of 45 parts, and 70 people are involved in its creation worldwide, each with their own specialty. There are thus 12,000 stitches per shirt, or about 90 meters of thread. There are 150 stitches in the buttonholes, which is twice as much as the industry standard prescribes, to provide a neater, smoother, and more durable buttonhole.
The world's best cotton
There are many types of cotton in the world, generally categorized by the length of the cotton fibers. Longer fibers equal better quality. The quality scale ranges from Short (-20.6 mm), Medium, Medium Long, Long, and Extra-Long Staple (+34.9 mm). We exclusively use Extra-Long for the business shirts because it provides a more durable shirt that feels lighter and more comfortable on the body.
Only 3% of the global cotton production falls into the Extra-Long category. After testing different producers, we have found that the best and most stable quality cotton is US-Pima cotton from San Joaquin Valley in Northern California. Naturally, you can find more expensive alternatives, but then you're paying for things other than quality. Typically, the higher price is because the cotton comes from small cotton productions, for example, from the Caribbean, without the cotton actually being better. We won't raise the price for that. Trust us – cotton is not just cotton.
The art of not ironing a shirt
The cotton is spun, woven, and finished into our various signature fabric types. We don't see this as three separate processes, but rather as a unified process. The finishing takes place in Switzerland and involves 40 step-by-step chemical and mechanical processes. It typically takes up to ten weeks to complete our special finishing, which could easily be done cheaper elsewhere in the world. But because the environment is so important to us, all our shirts are OEKO-TEX 100® certified and thus guaranteed free from harmful chemicals. We know that our customers wear the shirt for many hours every single day, so everything must be in order. This special process makes Barons shirts some of the most non-iron on the market.
The uncompromising button
The button on our shirts is certainly not random either. Both the rounding and shape are carefully tested and selected. We are well aware that some believe that mother-of-pearl is the "fine" choice when it comes to buttons. Mother-of-pearl comes from shells and truly belongs in the sea. Moreover, mother-of-pearl buttons break more easily, especially at the dry cleaner. Conversely, if the button is made thicker, it becomes harder to close. Finally, mother-of-pearl is much more expensive, so for us, the conclusion is clear = mother-of-pearl does not make a better shirt.
The Barons button is from Sweden, and it is fastened with a special heat-treated thread via a patented Swiss machine and specially developed technique used only by the best shirt brands. Here, the thread is spun around the existing button thread, so the button is held even better in place. This makes our button strong, easy to close, and highlights the shirt's quality.
The demand for the collar
The collar is yet another feature that makes the Barons shirt stand out from others on the market. Our collars consist of seven pieces of fabric in different layers and thicknesses, undergoing fifteen different processes before becoming a finished Barons collar. This includes a special two-step heat treatment process, where most only use a single heat treatment. Additionally, we use a special type of "interlining" in both collars and cuffs, and yet another layer between the two. It is then treated in two separate rounds. The design itself is based on the principle of a razor-sharp collar for a razor-sharp look - all day.
