IME becomes innovation laboratory for high-end natural-fibre jersey

Italy’s IME is strengthening its specialisation in high-end natural jersey and the bespoke development of exclusive materials by combining textile research with a new aesthetic tailored to premium and luxury brands.

Founded in 1969 in Borgonovo Val Tidone, and joining the Carvico Group in 2021 following its acquisition by Jersey Lomellina, IME—short for Industrie Maglieria Europee—“was a cotton-based company producing a very distinctive product, entirely different from synthetics, with technical applications typical of our DNA,” Lorenzo Locatelli, the project’s commercial director, tells FashionNetwork.com.

“For some time, IME was Lomellina’s ‘power unit’; then we established an in-house knitting facility by relocating a large number of machines. That is why IME now has a small roster of clients: it had not yet been launched to the market. Within IME there was substantial know-how in cotton—short-staple, discontinuous fibres—but also in wool, wool blends and various other mixtures. Today, we have decided to bring it to market by presenting a fully fledged collection, creating a cross-cutting product that opens up a new space. The new IME,” Locatelli adds, “will draw on the expertise of the ‘power unit’ and has been created with the aim of offering high-end brands new tools to define their collections—in other words, a development platform capable of transforming clients’ ideas and needs into distinctive materials. We want to be a partner able to support companies in building collections that are increasingly recognisable and deliver high added value.”

IME is, therefore, positioning itself as a laboratory of innovation for high-end natural jersey, supporting leading international brands in the creation of exclusive fabrics, thanks to an industrial set-up that enables vertical integration of production. At the latest edition of the Milano Unica trade fair, the company presented a collection centred on the finest natural fibres—cotton, wool, cashmere, silk, viscose and noble blends—interpreted through sophisticated, contemporary knitted constructions, with research expressed in original jacquards, faux plains and three-dimensional textures that broaden jersey’s expressive possibilities. Each fabric is developed through a collaborative process that involves every stage, from selecting raw materials to defining structures, weights, finishes and colour variations, through to the creation of exclusive qualities.

The Autumn/Winter 2027-28 collection presented at Milano Unica reinterprets the heritage of sartorial tradition through a contemporary lens. Tie motifs, classic weaves, jacquards and tailoring-inspired textures are translated into the language of jersey via yarn-dyed fabrics and natural-stretch constructions made exclusively from natural fibres. The ‘Weightless Luxury’ concept encapsulates this vision: a light, dynamic expression of luxury that supports a life in motion without sacrificing material refinement or a culture of craftsmanship.
 
“It is a meticulously crafted and rich collection, divided into countless weights and fibre types, but above all it targets a high-end market which, all things considered, still demands customisation,” explains Locatelli.

“We wanted to deliver tailor-made at industrial scale. We’re able to do all this because we have become vertically integrated—from sourcing raw materials, through dyeing and knitting, to finishing processes, which can be endless.”

IME offers very dense, compact knits, free from elastomers and made entirely from 100 per cent natural fibres, harnessing the inherent mechanical elasticity of knitwear to ensure superior comfort in clothing.
 
Leading this journey is Angelo Figus, IME’s creative director, who has defined the brand’s new aesthetic. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Figus is a multidisciplinary designer. A renowned colour trend forecaster, the Sardinian creative has organised exhibitions, designed costumes for opera and, between the late 1990s and the early 2000s, presented his first personal collections of menswear and womenswear. Today, he is also the creative director of Pitti Filati.

“I am passionate about fashion; I have been working with trends, yarns and colours for 22 years, and for the past 8 years I have had the pleasure of working alternately with Carvico and Jersey Lomellina. From this extraordinary experience, I have learnt to adopt an approach to projects that I would describe as sporty and daring,” said Figus.

“Especially at a time like this, when there is much talk of flexibility and fluidity, yet the global situation is also rather discordant. We’ve gone against the grain, focusing on elegance and the tie—two elements that are almost out of fashion today. The jersey in this collection is completely different from the much better-known jerseys of the Carvico Group, because we want to reach a different clientele. We conceived a collection—starting with the colours, patterns and structures—that could unite the classic with the sporty, and the formal with the urban.”

Figus and the IME team have used jersey in multiple layers, extending this core idea to all the garments, so that the shirt is as refined as a jacket, the jacket as polished as a blazer, and the trousers as comfortable as a shirt.

“Someone told us they look like fabrics from a bygone era,” the designer notes.

“A bygone era that we, however, want to bring into the future. It’s not easy to make a jersey trench coat, but I can assure you it’s incredibly comfortable. Many jersey pieces feature adhesive bonding, which helps ensure an impeccable fit.” IME has also developed accessories (hats, caps, and scarves), collaborating with Feel Blue, a Macerata-based company that produces accessories for many leading luxury brands and is working with jersey for the first time. IME is also developing trainers, with a view to future outerwear created with the same exceptional material purity, without resorting to blends of polyamide or polyester—or other petroleum-derived fibres—to add elasticity to the fabric.

“The idea isn’t to share standard references, but to sit down with companies to establish a dialogue and create a shared project together,” says Figus.

“There’s no final design, just a proposal. Let’s sit down and create your product! We believe that customisation is fundamental to the creation of new items, and we think this can also be achieved using very luxurious fabrics. Without going over the top, because it’s the detail, the fabric and the design that will set the products apart. If we all source our fabrics from the same places, or use the same designs, in the end differentiating the product becomes almost impossible.”
 
“This is where industrialisation comes into its own. If we work together with the client, I can build a bespoke product for them. There are countless ways to achieve the desired aesthetic and technical results,” adds Locatelli.

There are 105 garment styles in this first collection from the new IME platform, while the debut seasonal colour palette for AW 2027/28 features around ten colours, “which also serve as versatile options for the most personalised and exclusive requests from each company,” Figus adds.

“This initial offering constitutes a foundational study, onto which even the most intense and personal colours requested by the client can be applied with great ease.”
 
As one of the market leaders in the production of technical fabrics for swimwear, sportswear, underwear, outerwear and fashion, the Carvico Group was founded 62 years ago by Giuseppe Colnaghi, and is now led by Laura Colnaghi Calissoni, who took over the reins following her husband’s death and has since transformed the company into a robust international enterprise, with sales offices in China and the United States and two production plants: one in Vietnam serving the South-East Asian markets and one in Ethiopia for the production of commodity products. The group, which comprises Carvico S.p.A., Jersey Lomellina S.p.A., Eurojersey S.p.A., Xlance S.r.l, IME S.r.l, Hung Yen Knitting & Dyeing Co. Ltd and Carvico Ethiopia Plc, has a turnover of €290 million, 80 per cent of which comes from exports, and employs 1,300 staff, around 800 of whom are based in Italy.

“Of Carvico’s 2025 turnover—which in the last financial year was €1 million higher than in 2024—IME generated €14 million, recording single-digit growth,” Locatelli adds.

“The hope is to exceed €300 million at group level by the end of 2026. Carvico generates roughly one-third of its turnover in the United States, one-third in Europe and one-third in Asia, with only a few percentage points’ difference between these regions depending on where revenue is booked. The U.S., for example, is largely served via Asia; however, in Asia we focus heavily on the domestic market. In Europe, it’s easier to say who we don’t work with…”

The group has over 5,000 active customers.