Sweatshirts.... Actually Really Interesting.

As I have gotten older, my appreciation of garments has grown tremendously. The processes it takes to create a piece of clothing is always a riveting endeavour that captivates me, whether that’s purchasing something or wanting to learn more about it. I would go as far as saying that my appreciation for this stems from my fascination for footwear design process.

Sweatshirts and hoodies are somewhat seen as a trivial piece in any wardrobe. To some extent they are all seen as the same thing regardless of the brand or manufacturing process. Although aesthetics may look the same to any passer-by, what’s gone into them tends to be completely different.

Brushed Back Cotton

Let me run you through a scenario. Ever had a white t-shirt, put on a brand-new hoodie, only to take it off and be cover in a monumental amount of fluff. Well, the likelihood is that hoodie was made with a brushed back cotton.

Brushed back cotton creates a soft fleece feel to your sweats which feel super snug and cosy. To make this knit, the fabric is brushed with wire brushes or sandpaper softening up the yarn. It’s the most common type of knit found on most ready-made products.

Loopback Cotton

Think of a towel… That is kind of what you are getting with loopback cotton sweatshirt, this fluffless type of knit is a much more structured fabric. If you have ever purchased a sweat and felt a slightly rougher feel to the inside try looking closely at how the underside looks.

The fabric for loopback cotton is comprised of lots of small, flat loops warped in a way that could pass as a type of chain linked stitch. This type of knit is great for holding in moisture and heat within the loops of the fabric similarly to how a heavy knitted jumper would.

Double Faced Cotton

Exactly as described, double faced cotton is a dual jointed fabric that is fused together to cultivate a whole new piece. This process allows the opportunity to create reversible sweats but also produce thicker fabrics.

This process is used in more than just cotton or sweats, it can also be used on materials such as cashmere and even have double faced cloth jackets or coats.

Loopwheel Cotton

The holy grail of cotton sweats and a manufacturing process that dates back nearly 100 years ago. Loopwheel cotton is the finest and most exclusive cotton knit on the market. It was developed in 1926 and due to its slow, costly process has been dropped in many parts of the world with Japan and Germany being the main supplier of loopwheeled fabrics.

A loopwheel machine produces a fabric by weaving the cotton at a slow pace, in a cylindrical form, that is later turned into the final garment. The machines can only do 24 rotations a minute, produce 1 size per machine and take 1 hour to make just 1 meter of fabric. The final product, a more dense, softer fabric than pretty much anything else around. - The price point tends to give you that idea. They tend to cost more than its other cotton knit counter parts.

Champion used to produce their sweats with loopwheel cotton during the 1920s/30s.