Heavyweight Denim Makes Sense, But a 25 oz. Sweatshirt?

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The Return of Sweater Weather with a “Double Heavy” Wonder Looper and 100% Merino Gustin

I don’t wear knitwear—heavyweight flannels became my go-to sweaters years ago. 

The exception is the wool I wear on my head: you’ll see me in my red Heimat Mechanics Hat all winter—half a decade old now, still not showing any signs of pilling.

But I know autumn means getting the sweaters back out—or finding another one—for plenty of denim people. Judging by my inbox this week, brands and retailers know that too.

When Sweatshirts Start Breaking Rules

I think 14 oz. is pretty heavy for a sweatshirt. I can barely imagine what one almost twice as heavy feels like.

Wonder Looper’s Double Heavyweight French Terry comes in at 25.8 oz. per square yard. That’s a lot of cotton. Redcast and Brooklyn both stock it—your courier will get the first workout.

Gustin takes the opposite route with a 10 oz. loop-back French terry made from 100% merino wool: a classic sweater fibre knitted in Japan, then cut into a sweatshirt and a zip hoodie in the US.

For actual knitwear, everyone’s favourite German loopwheel brand also does other stuff than tees. Franklin & Poe and Cultizm have new Merz b. Schwanen merino-cashmere and waffle knits, while Heimat is back in Philly with another batch of substantial German-made sweaters.

Samurai Takes the Title in Year Five

Last week, we announced the winners of IIY5 in the ROW, SEA and Re(Pair) conferences. One decision was still open: whether ROW winner J-B’s Iron Hearts or SEA winner Bima Rosyid’s Samurai would take the overall title.

The decision was up to Bryan and Ruedi, who were split, so the judges got one more vote. I went for J-B’s sharper contrast. A comfortable majority preferred the overall harmony of Bima’s fades, making Bima the overall Year Five winner.

With the result settled, the winners now start choosing their showcases—Bryan’s name for the bundles of prizes.

Bima wore his pair every day, washed them around three times, darned a complete crotch blowout and even tried playing basketball in them once. He says that was extremely uncomfortable.

Things Worth Your Attention

A giveaway, a long-awaited return, and three more things that made the cut for this issue:

• Heddels Stitchdown Expo giveaway – More than $1,500 in prizes, including two Collector Passes, custom Nicks Boots with a matching belt, Grant Stone loafers and a Saphir care kit; entry closes 4 October, and I happen to be breaking in a Nicks belt for a future review.
• TCB at Redcast – The Cats Drive jeans and jacket are back after nearly three years, alongside the broader 20s-to-60s restock and the newer 13.5 oz. Baggy 50’s Jeans.
• Brave Star heavyweight drop – The current run is stacked with 21.5 oz. Reaper, Frankenstein and Mayhem Mojave jackets plus the 20.5 oz. Odin jeans, so heavyweight season is very much underway.
• Unmarked and Y’2 Leather at Cultizm – I’ve really been looking forward to getting the Unmarked Chelseas I’m meant to review. In the meantime, the DB Hunter Cap Toes that just dropped caught my eye too, along with Y’2’s cherry-aniline LSR-42.
• KATO Teacore – The new 14.5 oz. Japanese selvedge uses brown cotton yarn beneath the indigo, so the fades should reveal a brown-tinted core instead of the usual white. The Hammer Straight is the one I’m watching.

Building My Brand: Pitching AW27 to Retailers

This week marked another milestone for Weirloom. Martin, who’s coming in to handle sales, has started reaching out to retailers.

Our updated brand pitch is done, and the AW27 line sheet is coming together. The collection will span the three jeans fits in new fabrics and washes, three shirt styles in Italian and Japanese fabrics, plus a full jersey programme with new T-shirts, a couple of thermals and a hoodie jacket.

We’ll start taking orders in mid-November, so I still have a mountain of work ahead of me. But it feels SO good.

From the Archive: Fisherman’s Sweaters

Since I’ve spent half this issue explaining why I don’t wear sweaters, here’s the guide for everyone who does.

It gets into why dense five-ply wool worked so well in cold, wet maritime conditions, then runs through modern versions from Heimat, S.N.S. Herning, Andersen-Andersen, Filson and more. 

The Heimat U-Boat is especially fitting today: roughly a kilo of oily five-ply wool, made in Germany.