The Fabric Behind the Future:Weightless Luxury Jersey by IME

Italian fashion is often celebrated for its designers, ateliers, and iconic labels. Yet behind every beautifully tailored jacket, fluid dress, or impeccably cut knit lies something even more fundamental: fabric. The quiet innovation of Italy's textile industry has long been the foundation of Made in Italy, where generations of technical expertise meet artistic vision. It is in the mills, laboratories, and knitting rooms that many of fashion's most important advances begin, long before they reach the runway.

One of the most intriguing discoveries at this season's Milano Unica comes from IME, a specialist textile manufacturer that is redefining what luxury jersey can be. Rather than following seasonal trends, the company is focusing on something far more enduring: creating fabrics that combine exceptional natural fibres, technical innovation, and the effortless elegance today's luxury market demands.

A Quiet Textile Specialist with Nearly Six Decades of Expertise

Founded in 1969 in Borgonovo Val Tidone, Emilia-Romagna, IME has spent almost sixty years developing premium knitted fabrics for some of the world's leading fashion houses. Since joining the Carvico Group through Jersey Lomellina in 2021, the company has repositioned itself as a highly specialised development partner rather than simply a fabric supplier. Today, it works alongside luxury brands to engineer bespoke textiles created specifically for individual collections.

Instead of offering standard fabric collections, IME collaborates with designers from the earliest stages of development. Fibre selection, knit construction, weight, finishing techniques, stretch performance, colour palettes and surface treatments are all tailored to the creative vision of each client. The result is proprietary fabrics that become part of a brand's identity rather than materials available to the wider market.

Backed by the Carvico Group—one of Italy's largest textile manufacturers with seven companies, approximately €290 million in annual turnover and an export rate of around 80 percent—IME combines boutique craftsmanship with industrial-scale technical expertise. Sustainability also plays a central role, with significant investment in cleaner technologies and environmentally responsible manufacturing.

Weightless Luxury: The New Language of Jersey

The centrepiece of IME's Autumn/Winter 2027-28 presentation is a concept the company calls Weightless Luxury.

It begins with an unexpected question: what if the structure and sophistication of classic tailoring could be translated into an exceptionally soft, fluid jersey?

The answer is a collection built almost entirely from natural fibres including cotton, wool, silk, cashmere and viscose, enhanced through advanced knitting techniques rather than synthetic performance fabrics. Innovative natural-stretch constructions allow the fabrics to move effortlessly while maintaining the refinement expected from luxury tailoring.

The collection introduces intricate jacquards, subtle faux-solid effects, sophisticated yarn-dyed patterns and richly textured three-dimensional surfaces. Traditional tie motifs, woven structures and tailoring references are reinterpreted in lightweight jersey, creating textiles that appear structured yet feel remarkably soft against the body.

The result is fabric with movement, comfort and elegance in equal measure—a direction that reflects how luxury wardrobes continue to evolve.

Where Could We See These Fabrics?

While IME develops textiles behind the scenes for luxury labels, the possibilities are easy to imagine.

These flowing jerseys would lend themselves naturally to softly tailored jackets that replace rigid construction with ease. They could become elegant travel wardrobes that resist creasing while remaining refined, fluid evening separates, elevated knitwear, modern suiting, relaxed trousers, sophisticated dresses, or lightweight coats that combine comfort with impeccable craftsmanship.

As luxury consumers increasingly value versatility alongside beauty, fabrics that can transition seamlessly between travel, work and evening occasions are becoming increasingly relevant.

The Creative Vision of Angelo Figus

Helping shape this new direction is Creative Director Angelo Figus, one of Italy's most respected creative voices.

Originally from Sardinia, Figus studied at the prestigious Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp before launching his own label, gaining international recognition for collections celebrated for their poetic, artistic sensibility. Throughout his career he has worked across fashion design, costume design, illustration and creative direction, bringing an unusually multidisciplinary perspective to every project. His illustrations have become almost as recognisable as his fashion work, combining delicate hand-drawn artistry with an instinctive understanding of textiles and silhouette.

At IME, Figus has developed not only the creative direction of the new collection but also the company's renewed visual identity and Milano Unica presentation. His approach transforms traditional tailoring references into fabrics that feel contemporary rather than nostalgic—maintaining the language of classic menswear while introducing softness, lightness and freedom of movement.

It is a philosophy that mirrors the broader evolution of luxury fashion itself.

A Textile House Worth Watching

Fabric rarely receives the public attention given to fashion brands, yet companies like IME quietly influence what luxury fashion becomes several seasons before garments reach boutiques.

As designers continue searching for materials that balance natural fibres, technical performance and understated elegance, the company's approach feels particularly timely. Weightless Luxury is more than a seasonal theme—it signals a shift toward textiles that prioritise comfort without compromising sophistication.

If this latest collection is any indication, IME is positioning itself as one of Italy's most interesting textile innovators. The next question is not what fabric the company will develop next, but which luxury collections will bring these remarkable materials to life.