SUPPLY CHAIN STORY: COTTON
From Farm to Yarn
In fall 2025, our Head of CSR had the opportunity to see firsthand how cotton is turned into yarn. She traveled to Turkey to observe the process from harvesting and ginning to spinning the yarn. She returned with a wealth of impressions and one certainty: the machinery behind a seemingly mundane 100% cotton garment is enormous.
The Cotton Plant
Cotton is a member of the mallow family. Similar to dandelions, it first produces a flower. After the flower dies, a capsule forms in its place, which bursts open when ripe. A tuft of cotton fibers spills out of it (bottom left image). The light, long fibers originally served the same function as the dandelion's little parachute: they were meant to carry the plant's seeds on the wind to fertile soil.
Through selective breeding, humans have taken advantage of this property. Today, the plants with the longest fibers are the basis for high-quality yarn production.
FLOWER POWER
The fields are vast, and most of the plants have been harvested. Harvesting machines collect the ripe cotton bolls, which are then sent to the ginning plant – often on the same day. In Turkey, harvesting is done entirely by machine.
What many people don't know is that about two-thirds of the cotton boll consists of seeds. Only one-third is the coveted fiber.
In the ginning plant – also known as a gin – the fibers are separated from the seeds and plant residue. This is a mechanical process in which rotating saws pull the fibers from the seeds. The fibers are then cleaned and sorted by length. The longer the fiber, the higher the quality. The fibers are then pressed into bales.
Good to know: the seeds do not end up as waste. They are used to produce cottonseed oil or are processed into protein-rich animal feed. Nothing is wasted.
High-tech meets Craftmanship
The spinning mill is a huge, spotlessly clean industrial facility. Here, the pressed bales are further processed. First, they are registered and checked for quality. Then fibers from different bales are swirled together in large compressed air systems and mixed. The goal is to ensure consistent quality and even out natural differences.
In the same closed system, the fibers are then collected and combed on large rollers – a process known as carding. They are then stretched and twisted. This produces a thick, loose roving (middle image). In several further steps, it is stretched, twisted, and refined again until a uniform yarn is produced (right image). Ready for further processing into fabrics.
From the field to the gin to the spinning mill – this process shows how many steps and how much energy go into every single fiber. The used resources deserve more than just a short life. Our clothes deserve care, repair, and a second life. That's why we focus on durable quality and circular design, and offer you concrete ways to keep your DRYKORN pieces in circulation with our Care, Repair, Resale, and Recycling Guides. Because the best material is the one that's already there.
FOR BEAUTIFUL PRODUCTS.
01/2026