LOT.603 SWEAT SHIRT
LOT.603 SWEAT SHIRT
This sweat top was born from the origins of American sportswear before the 1950s, when man-made materials became widely used. Like Lot.601 Tee Shirt, it has a direct cut and flat shape. By reconstructing this top, we can understand the background of the manufacturing process that has been forgotten in the modern age, such as the V-gusset sweat stop detail at the neck on the front and back sides of the shirt. The fabric is made of USA cotton, which has a unique texture with a dry feel. The hang knitting machine, which was introduced to Japan in the Taisho era (1912-1926) and is currently the only one in the world operating in Wakayama Prefecture, can knit only one meter per hour, making it very inefficient, but the slow process results in a fabric with a unique texture with just the right amount of unevenness, as if air were knitted in together.
100% ORGANIC COTTON
Garment Background
Taiga Takahashi spent time researching the history of the sweatshirt and how it went from underwear to an everyday staple of the American wardrobe. Linked to advanced manufacturing processes and the economic boom that enabled this in the wake of World War II, the 1940s saw the sweatshirts become more widely worn as a piece of outerwear. Looking into how these sweatshirts were made, Takahashi found that the technology, a process completed on a loopwheeler machine, was almost obsolete. Only two factories in the world still produce clothing using the loopwheeler machine in Japan and Germany. The sweatshirt is made using the technique in Japan, where Takahashi spoke with the craftspeople about how to represent the sweaters worn in the 1940s more accurately. The result features an organic cotton fleece knit body made using a customised loopwheeler machine. The material is dyed using natural mud and plant dyeing techniques to achieve a unique and beautiful patination.