Piqué (Lacoste) Fabric

What sets piqué apart from single jersey is the loop arrangement: during knitting, certain needles form a tuck stitch instead of a normal loop, so the yarn gathers on the surface and creates small, raised cells. This texture gives the fabric both breathability and a firmer body than plain jersey. The fabric known in the trade as “lacoste” is a piqué variant knitted on the same principle with finer yarn and denser cells. In the KARCEM catalogue, piqué/lacoste is listed as cotton · polyester, 180–240 g/m².

What products is piqué fabric used for?

Piqué’s main application is the polo shirt: together with the collar, the honeycomb surface builds an upright, clean silhouette and hides dirt and creasing better than a flat surface. For the same reasons it is the fabric of choice for uniforms and corporate wear, promotional polo programmes and everyday tops. For product-side decisions on weight and collar, the polo shirt fabric page sets out a detailed selection flow; the structural difference between piqué, lacoste and plain jersey is explained in the piqué, lacoste and jersey comparison.

Piqué, single jersey and interlock side by side

In polos and basic tops, piqué is usually evaluated alongside single jersey and interlock. Seeing all three in one table makes it easier to settle weight and surface together:

Piqué and interlock meet in the same weight band, so the choice is driven by surface, not weight. If you need a flat surface suited to printing, interlock is the right pick; for a textured, sporty-corporate look, choose piqué. For a lighter, more fluid T-shirt, single jersey comes to the fore.

What should a piqué specification include?

For piqué quotes to be comparable, the enquiry must be written with the same parameters. An incomplete specification leads two suppliers to price different fabrics under the same “piqué” name:

• Structure: single piqué, double piqué or lacoste — cell density and body depend on it.
• Weight: target g/m² and acceptance tolerance; greige and finished weights differ, so state which one is the reference (measuring fabric weight).
• Composition: the cotton–polyester ratio; the ratio also determines the dye recipe.
• Width and form: tubular or open width, with a usable width that suits the cutting plan.
• Colour and finish: colour reference, lab-dip approval and compacting or sanforizing for shrinkage control.
• Collar and cuffs: whether matching rib is needed for the body.

Frequently asked questions

Should I choose single piqué or double piqué?

Single piqué suits a light, cool, breathable summer polo; double piqué comes to the fore for a firmer corporate polo that lies flat and holds its shape in the wash. Because double piqué is knitted on two needle beds, its edge curling is markedly lower.

How is cotton–polyester piqué dyed?

The two fibres require two separate dye classes: cotton is dyed with reactive dyes, polyester with disperse dyes at high temperature. In a blended fabric both fibres have to land on the same shade; that is why blended piqué needs a longer dye recipe and tighter colour control than a single-fibre fabric.

Can piqué be printed and embroidered?

Embroidery works without problems on piqué and is the most common method for corporate logos; the textured surface carries the stitching well. In printing, however, the honeycomb cells can break up fine-line designs; for such designs a denser-celled lacoste or a flat-surfaced fabric gives a cleaner result. For choosing the method, see the digital vs rotary printing comparison.

Is piqué fabric sold by the kilo?

Yes. In the industry, knit fabric is produced and priced by the kilogram, and piqué is no exception. Once kilograms, weight and width are known together, the quantity can be converted to metres; the conversion formula is on the kilo-to-metre calculation page.

What determines the price of piqué fabric?

Yarn is the first cost item: the cotton–polyester ratio and the yarn count determine most of the cost. Dense-celled structures such as lacoste require finer yarn, and finer yarn costs more per kilogram. Dyeing a blended fabric with two dye classes raises dyehouse costs compared with a single-fibre fabric; the number of colours and the batch size also feed directly into the price.

With KARCEM

With piqué, buyers face two risks: cell appearance that varies from batch to batch, and shade differences between fibres in blend dyeing. As a knit fabric manufacturer, KARCEM knits greige piqué on its own machines, plans dyeing within an audited subcontractor network and measures every batch against the approved lab-dip.