Down and fabric quality

The use of down in the tailoring of bed quilts has century-old tradition, which gets enriched by the results of continuing research.
Despite the technical progress made in the research of materials and fabrics, mankind has not yet been able to create a material as perfect as Mother Nature did. It is for this reason that the most precious bed quilts and the most technical clothing still use down.

The down - is a very soft, lightweight tuft made up of countless, extraordinarily fluffy “barbs” that make it three-dimensional. The down is able to retain air, thus creating a soft isolating embrace around the body.

The feather - is a small, fluffy feather made up of a “shaft” (called calamus) from which the “barbs” branch off in an orderly fashion. Feathers give the item strength and elasticity.

The fabric - used to make the “bag” containing the filling is called “intima”. Its peculiarity is that it is so dense that the down is sealed inside, but at the same time it is extremely soft and lightweight.

The quality of the down:
it is determined by the size of the tufts. The size is measured by filling power:
larger tuft = more volume = better quality = greater lightness

What is filling power?
Filling power means the weight to volume ratio of the down, and is measured in cubic inches. The larger the individual tufts are, fewer are needed to get a certain volume and hence a duvet with a certain caloric coefficient.