At St Genève, we are dedicated to bringing you the very finest bedlinens possible. For years, we offered the extraordinary Giza 45 Egyptian Cotton as our premium cotton sheet. However, thanks to advancements in textile engineering, agriculture, and bioengineering, supported by the expertise of specialist farmers and government collaborations, new cotton genotypes have emerged with superior qualities. That’s why we’re excited to introduce Giza 92 – the next evolution in luxury bedding.
Everything you loved about Giza 45 has been elevated even higher with Giza 92. And this is not just from touching the fabric, there is science behind all this. There are 8 indicators that are used to measure the quality of cotton fiber. Giza 92 tests better than Giza 45 on six, matches on 1 and is slightly lower on 1. Most importantly, Giza 92 is recognized as the strongest fiber in the world, which means it can be spun into finer threads without losing its integrity.
When all of these properties are added up, it means that Giza 92 Egyptian Cotton can be spun into the finest threads, and then woven into the most luxurious sheets in the world.
If you are curious about the details that make this new cotton variety a step above its predecessors, please read on.
Species of commercial cotton
Worldwide, 75 countries annually plant cotton as a cash crop. This industry sustains approximately over 350 million people as of 2020. There are 4 commercially available species of cotton cultivated worldwide, these are Gossypium hirsutum (upland cotton), Gossypium barbadense (ELS), Gossypium arboreum (tree cotton), and Gossypium herbaceum (Levant cotton). Gossypium hirsutum is the most common species planted, accounting for 90% of production worldwide. This is important because it helps us picture the uniqueness of Gossypium barbadense and the difficulty of sourcing such a rare crop.
Gossypium barbadense is known around the world as Pima cotton, Giza cotton and Sea Island cotton. These given names refer to the species and the place of origin. Sea Island cotton comes from the small islands coast of South Carolina in the US, while Giza is from Egypt, and Pima is from inland US. This species originated in South America and has been cultivated since prehispanic times. Other countries that cultivate it refer to it commonly as ELS.
Because you can find another Egyptian cotton in Egypt called Giza that is not ELS or Gossypium barbadense, producers will clarify and say Giza ELS. In other words, all ELS is Gossypium barbadense, but not all Giza is ELS, that is why it is important to clarify.
Why did we pick Egyptian Cotton?
The Nile River Valley is a narrow band of vegetative growth that stretches across the Sahara Desert, leaving a ribbon of irrigated and arable land along its banks which then fans out in the Nile Delta where it empties into the Mediterranean Sea. The Gossypium Barbadense cotton variety is cultivated in the North Delta region through an ancient network of canals. Cotton has been a crop for the Egyptians since the American Civil War when the production of the crop dwindled and Egypt jumped to fill the void. Since then, the cotton industry had a boom, and in the 1900’s it was 40% of the country’s GDP. However, now it has declined to only 3%. In response, the government is looking to integrate vertically all their production.
The institutions, research centers and farmers have helped develop incredible seeds and techniques that keep innovating the space. From laws that require seed purity to transparent auctions for pricing, Egypt is doing a great job at catering to the luxury market.
So what does ELS mean?
ELS stands for Extra-long Staple, this is a system of classification regarding fiber length. There is also LS which stands for Long Staple, and Gossypium barbadense can also be LS. Gossypium hirsutum on the other hand only produces smaller fibers. The term extra-long-staple (ELS) first came into use in 1907. The International Cotton Advisory Committee, in an attempt to standardize classification, defined extra-long-staple as 1+3⁄8 inches (35 mm) or longer, and long-staple as 1+1⁄8 to 1+5⁄16 inches (29 to 33 mm). Under this classification scheme, most cultivars of G. barbadense produce extra-long-staple fibers, but some cultivars qualify as long-staple.
ELS is cultivated in the US, Egypt, Peru, Uzbekistan, and China, accounting for between 2.5 and 4 percent of total global cotton production.
Genotypes: and the number in the name
The number next to the name Giza refers to the genotype or “pedigree” of the seed.
All cotton genotypes are evaluated under the same categories and display specific traits. Every single one of the genotypes has something going for it, and there is a reason why it is the choice for a certain final product. The traits needed to produce a collared shirt or a pair of jeans are not the same as those needed to make supple and dreamy sheets.
Divided into 2 phases, we can evaluate cotton by its “yield” and subsequently by its “fiber properties”. Yield informs those concerned about quantity output, while fiber properties inform quality. In this blog, we will talk about Fiber Properties, (don’t forget to leave a comment or send an email if you want to know more about yield output) and the outstanding properties that Giza 92 brings.
Fiber Properties of Cotton
The uniformity index (UI%) is the ratio between the upper half-length and mean length: how even the length is.
Fiber Strength (FS) is the force in grams required to break a bundle of fibers on tex. A “tex” is a unit equal to the weight in grams of 1,000 meters of fiber. Therefore, the strength reported is the force in grams required to break a bundle of fibers one tex unit in size.
Elongation (E%) is an important cotton fiber property that directly affects yarn elongation and work-to-break values.
Micronaire value (Mike) is a measure of fiber fineness.
The maturity ratio (MR) is the index of the development of the fiber.
Brightness (Rd%) indicates how bright or dull a sample is.
Yellowness (+b) indicates the degree of colour pigmentation. The lower the number, the whiter the fiber. Giza 92 is so white that it does not need bleaching, which is a process that weakens the lower qualities of cotton.
Note that in most of the values on these fiber properties, the higher the better, except in micronaire value and yellowness.
Fiber quality is extremely important to the producer as it will largely determine the spinning efficiency of converting the fiber into yarn and the yarn to fabric. Spinning efficiency is affected by all fiber properties.
Giza 92 vs Giza 45 stats
Although Giza 45 has the lowest micronaire and higher elongation, in every other indicator Giza 92 is superior, in uniformity, maturity, radiance, and the lowest yellowness. Other studies have been done and Giza 92 has been determined as the strongest fiber in the world with results in the 50-53 g/tex.
Want to know more about other bedlinen products? Keep reading our blog for more content on down and summer bedding. Thank you for reading.
Resources
Abdelghany, Ahmed M., et al. “Combining Ability of Egyptian Cotton (Gossypium Barbadense L.) Reveals Genetic Potential for Improved Yield and Fiber Quality.” Journal of Cotton Research, vol. 7, no. 1, 9 Apr. 2024, https://doi.org/10.1186/s42397-024-00174-1. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.
El-Dahan, M.A.A. “COMPARISON among SOME SELECTION PROCEDURES to PRODUCE the NUCLEOLUS (BREEDER SEED) of the EGYPTIAN COTTON VARIETY GIZA 92 (GOSSYPIUM BARBADENSE L).” J. Agric. Res. Kafr El-Sheikh Univ, vol. 42, no. 4, 2016, p. 2016. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.
El-Sayed, Eman Rashwan, and Eman Yehia Abd-Elkawe. “Production of Fine Count Yarns from Some Extra-Long Egyptian Cottons on Different Spinning Systems.” European Journal of Agriculture and Food Sciences, vol. 3, no. 5, 8 Oct. 2021, pp. 90–96, https://doi.org/10.24018/ejfood.2021.3.5.374. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.
“Giza 92 Classic | Sateen.” St Geneve Bed Linens, 2025, www.stgeneve.com/product-page/giza-92-classic-sateen. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.
Mahdy, Ezzat E., et al. “Genetic Analysis of Earliness and Lint Yield under Normal and Late Sowing Dates in Egyptian Cotton.” Egyptian Journal of Agronomy, vol. 0, no. 0, 2018, pp. 31–44, https://doi.org/10.21608/agro.2018.1727.1077. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.
Shalaby, Mona. “Impact of Fiber Properties on Yarn Strength Using Spatial REML Model for Egyptian Cotton.” IOSR Journal of Polymer and Textile Engineering (IOSR-JPTE), vol. 8, no. 1, 5 Mar. 2021, pp. 9–15, https://doi.org/10.9790/019X-08010915. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.
Uddin, Md. Nasir. RETROFITTING of SIMPLE MECHANICAL COMPACTING DEVICE (ROCOS) on CONVENTIONAL RING SPINNING MACHINE for IMPROVING YARN QUALITY Ministry of Textiles and Jute, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. Jan. 2015.
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