Aritzia sits in an interesting place — it's a Canadian premium-positioned brand with sub-brands (Wilfred, Babaton, TNA, Sunday Best, Denim Forum) that each lean different directions on materials. Some of their most iconic pieces are 100% cotton or 100% linen. Others — including a lot of their best-selling blazers and dresses — are 100% polyester.
So when shoppers ask "is Aritzia cotton?" or "is Aritzia polyester?" the honest answer is: it depends on the piece. We pulled fabric composition from 1,282 Aritzia products to show you what that actually looks like.
The Quick Answer
| Fibre | % of Aritzia catalog | Avg % when present | 100% (pure) items |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cotton | 35% | 86% | 278 |
| Polyester | 35% | 72% | 181 |
| Elastane (stretch) | 36% | 9% | 0 |
| Nylon | 20% | 82% | 60 |
| Viscose | 12% | 46% | 19 |
| Linen | 10% | 75% | 64 |
| Cashmere | 4% | 54% | 27 |
| Wool | 4% | 71% | 22 |
(Sample: 1,282 Aritzia products analyzed from the public site, updated monthly.)
A few things stand out:
- Cotton and polyester are basically tied in how often they show up — about a third of the catalog each.
- When cotton is used, it tends to be the dominant fibre (86% on average). 278 Aritzia items are 100% cotton — that's about 22% of the entire catalog.
- Polyester is similar — when it appears, it's usually the dominant fibre (72% on average), and 181 items are 100% polyester.
- Elastane is everywhere but tiny — typically 3–9% blended in for stretch. That's standard across most brands.
- Aritzia uses meaningfully more linen than most retailers we track — 64 items are 100% linen, mostly in their summer collections from Wilfred and Babaton.
Is Aritzia Cotton?
Roughly speaking, yes — for a meaningful chunk of the catalog. Cotton appears in about 35% of Aritzia products, and when it appears, the average garment is 86% cotton. 278 items (about 22% of everything Aritzia sells) are 100% cotton.
Where you find the pure cotton:
- Basics and tees — most of Aritzia's t-shirts, tanks, and casual tops are 100% cotton or near-pure cotton.
- Denim Forum — Aritzia's denim sub-brand uses cotton-heavy compositions, usually with a small percentage of elastane for stretch.
- Some Wilfred and Babaton woven shirts — particularly the "City Twill" pieces and structured cotton blouses.
- Sweatshirts and casual fleece — typically cotton-dominant with some polyester.
Where you don't find cotton: blazers, going-out dresses, slip skirts, satin pieces, performance/athleisure (TNA), and most "crepe" or "twill" branded fabrics. Aritzia uses proprietary fabric names (Crepette™, PowerLinen™, CruiseLinen™, UnReal Leather) and the underlying compositions are mixed — some are linen-based, but Crepette™ is 100% polyester despite the textured name.
Is Aritzia Polyester?
Also yes, in about the same proportion as cotton. Polyester appears in 35% of products, with an average content of 72% when present. 181 items are 100% polyester.
If you've ever owned an Aritzia blazer or going-out dress, you've probably owned a polyester garment. Here's where polyester shows up most:
- Blazers — many of Aritzia's most popular blazers (the Effortless, the Modus, the Producer, the Standout) are made from Crepette™, which is polyester. Some have small viscose blends.
- Going-out dresses — slip dresses, satin styles, and structured occasion-wear lean heavily polyester.
- Coats and outerwear — the Super Puff™ family is nylon shells with polyester insulation. Many trench coats use Crepette™ (polyester).
- Skirts — satin slip skirts, structured mini skirts, and many midi skirts are polyester-dominant.
That's not unusual for the premium-affordable price tier. Polyester drapes well, holds tailored shapes, washes easily, and costs less than silk or wool. But it doesn't breathe like a natural fibre, and over years it pills, shines, and traps odour. Whether that trade-off is worth the Aritzia price is a personal call.
About Aritzia
Aritzia is a Vancouver, Canada-based fashion retailer founded in 1984. It operates a portfolio of in-house brands — Wilfred, Babaton, TNA, Sunday Best, Denim Forum, Wilfred Free, Little Moon, and Auria — each with a distinct aesthetic and material strategy:
- Wilfred — the most fabric-forward sub-brand. More linen, silk, cashmere, and 100% wool than the rest of the house. If you're prioritizing natural fibres at Aritzia, start here.
- Babaton — workwear-leaning. A lot of blazers and trousers; Crepette™ (polyester) is common, but some pieces use cotton or linen.
- TNA — casual and athletic. Cotton fleece and sweats, plus polyester athleisure.
- Sunday Best — partywear / going-out. Mostly polyester and satin compositions.
- Denim Forum — denim. Cotton-heavy with elastane for stretch.
The brand's positioning is "premium accessible" — between fast fashion and luxury. That positioning shows up in the materials too: not as synthetic-dominated as fast fashion, not as natural-fibre-loyal as a true premium house. A mix.
How to Find the Natural Fibre Pieces on Aritzia
If you want to filter for cotton, linen, wool, or cashmere on Aritzia specifically:
- Use Aritzia's "Composition" filter — they expose a fabric filter on most category pages. It's not always perfectly tagged, but it narrows the field meaningfully.
- Lean into Wilfred — the sub-brand with the highest natural-fibre share. Their seasonal collections regularly include 100% linen and 100% wool pieces.
- Watch the proprietary fabric names. "PowerLinen™" and "CruiseLinen™" are linen blends (mostly with viscose or lyocell). "Crepette™" is 100% polyester. "City Twill" is 100% cotton. These naming conventions are stable across collections.
- Read the composition line. It's listed under "Materials" on every product page. The first fibre listed is the dominant one. If the first word is "polyester," the garment is at least majority synthetic regardless of price.
- Use Fibr. The Fibr extension overlays a colour-coded fabric badge directly on every product image — green for natural, yellow for blended, red for synthetic. You see the composition before clicking, across the whole grid.
Fibr reads the fabric composition of every product on supported retailers and shows it as a colour-coded badge on the image. No clicking through 50 product pages to check labels — the answer is right there.
Is Aritzia Sustainable?
Aritzia publishes annual sustainability reporting and has stated goals around responsible materials, packaging, and supply chain transparency. They've grown their use of preferred materials — organic cotton, recycled polyester, responsibly sourced wool — year over year.
The honest read: Aritzia is more transparent and more material-conscious than most fast fashion, but the catalog is still a mix. About a third of products lean on polyester, and "recycled polyester" — which Aritzia uses increasingly — is still polyester. It still sheds microplastics and still doesn't biodegrade.
The best version of sustainable shopping at Aritzia is the same as anywhere: choose natural-fibre pieces where the trade-offs are smallest (basics, sweaters, summer pieces), and be deliberate about the synthetic pieces (blazers, outerwear, athleisure) where the technical case for synthetics is stronger.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Aritzia 100% cotton?
Not as a whole brand, but a substantial portion of the catalog is — 278 Aritzia products (about 22% of everything they sell) are 100% cotton. These are concentrated in basics, t-shirts, City Twill shirts, denim, and some sweatshirts. Their blazers, going-out dresses, and outerwear are typically not cotton.
Is Aritzia polyester?
About 35% of Aritzia products contain polyester, and 181 items are 100% polyester. It's most common in blazers (Crepette™ is 100% polyester), satin pieces, going-out dresses, and outerwear shells. It's rare in tees, denim, and casual cotton basics.
What is Crepette™ made of?
Crepette™ is Aritzia's proprietary name for what is, in composition terms, 100% polyester. The name and texture are designed to evoke a crepe-like premium feel, but the underlying fibre is synthetic. It's used heavily in blazers, trench coats, and structured pieces.
What is PowerLinen™?
PowerLinen™ is Aritzia's name for a linen-blend fabric. Most PowerLinen™ pieces are roughly two-thirds linen with viscose making up the rest. It is genuinely linen-based, unlike Crepette™ which is entirely synthetic.
Is Aritzia good quality?
Quality at Aritzia varies a lot across sub-brands and material choices. Wilfred and Denim Forum tend to use more natural fibres and feel more substantial. Sunday Best and many Babaton dress pieces lean polyester, which performs differently — easy care, drape well, but pill and shine over time. The single best predictor of long-term wear is the composition line: natural-fibre-dominant pieces almost always wear better than blends.
Is Aritzia ethical?
Aritzia publishes annual sustainability reporting that covers materials, supplier code of conduct, and emissions targets. It's more transparent than most fast-fashion peers and is gradually increasing its use of preferred materials. Like most large retailers, it isn't fully circular or carbon-neutral, and most of its production happens outside Canada.