loopwheeled sweatshirts

[palma]

Is it possible to indentify whether a sweatshirt is loopwheeled just by looking at the fabric and construction? If yes, how?

 

[Jay-D]

On sweatshirts, you usually can from the back side. Here is a loopwheeled hoodie we are doing for Mr. Olive's S/S 2011 collection. Notice the large loops on the interior.

 

[ekstra]

/\\ /\\ /\\
awesome work

 

[wiru]

I thought "loopwheel" indicated that it had been made on a circular knitting machine, and the sign of that was seamless tube construction? Neither of my loopwheel sweatshirts have that kind of backside...

 

[Jay-D]

Perhaps my information was misleading or incorrect. Just showing a recent example of one of my projects.

The fabric may be made in tubular form, but the fabric could be cut so I don't think tubular construction is an immediate identifier. From my experience with Loopwheeler and items made by other companies with the same equipment, a loop cut stitch is present on the backside of the fabric. I have discussed with a couple designers in Japan, but I guess this could be a lost in translation thing and I could be wrong.

 

[snowmanxl]

i have a buzz rickson sweatshirt and it says that it is made on a loop wheeling loom. it is not "looped" on the backside(inside) of the sweater, its more of a fleece-fuzz-type-material. it is tubular, no side seams. SUPER SOFT!! now i am confused because the inside is not "looped" lol. HOWEVER, the wings horns hoody i have looks like the pic atsui posted(looped inside) but they do not claim it is loop-wheeled. i think it depends on what the COTTON is fabricated on. if it is fabricated using a vintage loop-wheeler machine then it is a "loop-wheeled" construction. if not, then it is a backside terry cloth(ie wings horns)

get it lol??? check this out: http://www.selfedge.com/shop/index.p...roducts_id=391

 

[kiya]

Loopwheeled Fabric!

I've seen a spike of interest in loopwheeled fabrics recently so i decided to dig up a few photographs i took of a machine for those that haven't seen what a loopwheeler machine looks like.

There are some serious misconceptions about this fabric.
Just because a fabric has tube construction does not make it loopwheeleed. Also, i'd say that about 50% of the fabric which i've felt and has been marked as loopwheeled was NOT actually loopwheeled, it's just tube body constructed fabric. It's insane to me that companies get away with advertising that their fabric is one thing when it's not, but i'm convinced that these companies themselves were fooled by their factories or textile suppliers into thinking that the fabric was really loopwheeled.

Kobayashi-san (president of Flat Head) is the only person in the world that owns loopwheeling machines which are capable doing a certain weight and feel of micro-ribbed fabric, the Japanese brand Loopwheeler actually buys their micro-ribbed fabric from Kobayashi. Flat Head are still the only clothing company i've ever come across which owns up to 65% of the machines which weave all their fabrics where as all other clothing lines don't actually own any machines, they lease or outsource production to factories.

 

[whatever123]

wow, thats great.

i think pure blue japan's l/w pullover they did last winter had the softest fabric i have ever felt. sunrise japan has another excellent l/w sweat.

 

[Melo]

What a strange machine. Looks like some steampunk torture device.

 

[whatever123]

here is the "loopwheeler" site for you to all enjoy.

http://loopwheeler.web5.jp/lw_news/2.../01/2nd_2.html

 

[BubblyMasquerade]

Kiya,

So is the Mr. Olive hoody loopewheeled?

 

[kiya]

Originally Posted by BubblyMasquerade

Kiya,

So is the Mr. Olive hoody loopewheeled?

Hard to tell without seeing it in person but i'd say no considering the price.
Also, "Notice the large loops on the interior.".. this has nothing to do with whether or not a textile was loopwheeled.

 

[jet]

Interesting, I thought loopwheeler had these machines.

 

[BubblyMasquerade]

I think they do, just not the micro one that flathead has.

Those machines are probably worth $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

 

[whatever123]

i think he was talking about specific type of machine, although i have never heard of "micro-ribbed." here is some more real history i found: http://www.loopwheeler.co.jp/en/origin/makeit_w1.html here is a link to an interview of the owner of loopwheeler. they did some stuff for nike it seems. http://www.sneakerfreaker.com/articl...eel-Interview/