Piqué, or marcella, is a

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...

style normally used with

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

yarn which is characterized by raised parallel cords or geometric designs in the fabric. Piqué fabrics vary from semi-sheer dimity to heavy weight waffle cloth.

Twill Twill is a type of textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and d ...

ed cotton and corded cotton are close relatives.

Name

The name ''piqué'' is derived from the French word , meaning 'quilt'; late 18th-century piqué fabrics were considered to imitate a hand-made quilt.

Piqué weave

The weave is closely associated with

white tie White tie, also called full evening dress or a dress suit, is the most formal evening Western dress code. For men, it consists of a black tail coat (alternatively referred to as a dress coat, usually by tailors) worn over a white dress shir ...

, and some accounts even say the fabric was invented specifically for this use. It holds more starch than plain fabric, so produces a stiffer shirt front; piqué shirts would go on to replace earlier plain-weave fronts, which remain a valid alternative. Use of piqué then spread to other parts of formal dress code, and it is now the most common fabric used in the tie and waistcoat of white tie dress.

Piqué weaving

Piqué weaving was developed by the

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

cotton industry in the late 18th century as a mechanised technique of weaving double cloth with an enclosed heavy cording weft. It was originally used to make imitations of the corded

Provençal quilts The term Provençal quilting, also known as boutis, refers to the wholecloth quilts done using a stuffing technique traditionally made in the South of France from the 17th century onwards. Boutis is a Provençal word meaning 'stuffing', describin ...

made in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, the manufacture of which became an important industry for Lancashire from the late 18th to the early 20th century. The term "marcella", another name for piqué, is one of a number of variations on the word "Marseille".

Fabrics

Woven piqué

Piqué fabrics are a type of dobby construction. Piqués may be constructed in various patterns such as cord, waffle, honeycomb and birdseye. These fabrics require the addition of extra yarns, called stuffer yarns. These stuffer yarns are incorporated into the back of the fabric to give texture and added depth to the fabric design. Some piqués may be made using the Jacquard attachment on the loom. Although made of 100%

today, cotton-

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

blends and even pure silk versions were made in the past and in a variety of weaves.

Knitted piqué

Piqué knit is a double knit that forms a structure with pronounced wales. The knit type is possible with

warp and weft In the manufacture of cloth, warp and weft are the two basic components in weaving to transform thread and yarn into textile fabrics. The vertical ''warp'' yarns are held stationary in tension on a loom (frame) while the horizontal ''weft'' ...

, both knitting techniques. The texture is used in

polo shirt A polo shirt, tennis shirt, golf shirt, or chukker shirt is a form of shirt with a collar. Polo shirts are usually short sleeved but can be long; they were used by Polo#Players, polo players originally in British Raj, British India in 1859 and ...

Structure

Knitted Knitting is a method for production of textile fabrics by interlacing yarn loops with loops of the same or other yarns. It is used to create many types of garments. Knitting may be done by hand or by machine. Knitting creates stitches: ...

piqué has a grained surface on the face and plain single jersey on the other side. The construction is open and prone to shrink more than single jersey. The knit can produce many variants such as single pique, double pique and more; it is also known as

Lacoste Lacoste S.A. (; ) is a French designer sports fashion company, founded in 1933 by tennis player René Lacoste, and entrepreneur André Gillier. It sells clothing, footwear, sportswear, eyewear, leather goods, perfume, towels and watches. The ...

piqué for the company's use of the fabric in its signature

References

Woven fabrics {{Textile-stub