The Hooded Zip Cardigan is a design that has been around since April 2016, and ever since, we have launched it in several different colors.
I love the simple look, but I really wanted our hoodies to look worn and used. Harder fabrics - like the ones we use for jackets and jeans - are straightforward to distress - but not so for softer fabrics.
After much experimenting, we were able to get the look that I wanted, so in March 2019, we released the Weathered Hooded Zip Cardigan in Rusty Brown.
The problem with the weathering technique at the time was that it only looked good on Rusty Brown - we tried the same technique on gray fabrics, but the worn edges looked too defined and unnatural.
However, I really wanted this cardigan in gray, so it was back to the drawing board to try various weathering techniques - and I think we nailed it - although it did take a couple of years ;-)
The weathering process involves much more steps than before. Once the hoodie has been assembled, the first step is to put it through two rounds of dyeing - sulfur mura and then solid sulfur. The edges of the sleeves, hem, etc are then manually weathered to create the faded, worn look. To get rid of the defined weathered edges, we overdye, and then stone bio wash the item.
The final stages are to wash the hoodies with fabric softener, and once dried, they go through a final wash with a color fixing agent. The staining risk for this item is low.
Not only do the worn edges look natural, but the entire garment is also covered with a "mura" (uneven, irregular) pattern, which will always be unique to that item.
The hoodies look great zipped up or open or tied around the waist.
The hoodies are made in Tokyo by the same folks who do the stage costumes for AKB48 and the weathering process is done Kagoshima.
