Tibi Lyocell Drape Squareneck Top

The interesting thing here is not the fibre but what was done to the cloth after it was made. Air finishing tumbles fabric through a chamber on high-velocity air rather than drawing it over rollers under tension, and the difference is structural rather than cosmetic. A cloth finished under tension comes out flat and slightly hard, with the yarns held where the machine left them. A cloth finished in air comes out relaxed, with the yarns free to move against one another. On a lyocell that produces drape without weight, a dry soft hand rather than a slippery one, and a surface that falls in long folds instead of breaking into creases.

The cotton at just under a third is doing the opposite job. Lyocell alone is fluid to the point of having no opinion, and cotton gives the cloth something to hold on to, so a top that drapes this readily still has a shoulder line to hang from. The neckline is squared, which is the firmest way to end a fluid cloth and the reason this reads as a decided garment rather than as a fall of fabric.

A long-sleeved top that genuinely drapes is one of the harder things to buy, because most of what drapes is either thin enough to be transparent or slippery enough to cling. This is neither, and the finish is the reason rather than the fibre. It is also the piece in this house that explains what a finish does, which is usually invisible and is very often the whole difference between one cloth and another.

Tibi has been designed by its founder Amy Smilovic since 1997, and lyocell is a fibre the house works repeatedly and in very different directions.

Sixty-nine percent lyocell and thirty-one percent cotton, in a lightweight cloth given an air finish. Made in China. Navy. Square neckline, long sleeves.

Drawn to hang from the shoulder rather than to fit, so the shoulder and the square neckline are where the fit is decided and there is nothing below them to negotiate. Lyocell has no spring, which means the cloth moves rather than stretches and follows the body without gripping it. It layers under a jacket without adding bulk.

Under the Cavalier Twill Shrunken Blazer, which is the same fibre worked in the opposite direction, firm against fluid. With the Tropical Wool Maxi Skirt, where something that falls over something that holds is the whole proportion. With the Bio Twill Triple Pleat Cropped Pant in dark navy, navy against navy in two surfaces that have nothing in common.

Lyocell is at its weakest when wet, and an air finish is a physical effect rather than a coating, which means heat and hard pressing are what take it away: press a cloth like this flat and the softness the finish created has gone. Clean gently, dry flat away from heat, and press cool if at all. Our care guidance covers regenerated cellulosics like lyocell, and it covers what to do when a garment is more than one material.

For a firmer cotton layer in the same place, the Sculpted Cotton Long Sleeve Top, and for a lighter open one, the Sheer Wool Gauze Oversized Shirt. Layering With Tibi is the Library post that puts these together, and everything we currently hold from Tibi is listed together.