Botanical Dyed L/S Tee

Founded in 1920, KANEKICHI Industries is a rare Japanese knit factory still operating loopwheel machines, now run by its fourth generation.

Once the industry standard, loopwheel machines disappeared with the shift toward mass production. Inefficient by modern standards, most were discarded. Kanekichi chose to preserve them, continuing to produce fabric the traditional way.

Knitted slowly, the fabric develops a soft, natural texture. With wear and washing, it gradually evolves, gaining character over time—qualities that cannot be replicated through efficiency-driven production.

Today, Kanekichi’s loopwheel fabrics are highly regarded worldwide for their rarity and distinctive quality.

With over 70 years of history, KOMECHU is a rare knitting mill dedicated to traditional small-gauge machines.

Around 300 machines line the factory floor, each with decades of use. Producing only a few meters per hour, they slowly knit tubular rib fabric with careful attention and time.

Every machine is maintained and adjusted daily by skilled hands. The process is guided not by efficiency, but by precision and intuition.

This manual approach creates subtle irregularities and small variations that give the fabric its unique texture and depth.

With over 70 years of history, KOMECHU is a rare knitting mill dedicated to traditional small-gauge machines.

Around 300 machines line the factory floor, each with decades of use. Producing only a few meters per hour, they slowly knit tubular rib fabric with careful attention and time.

Every machine is maintained and adjusted daily by skilled hands. The process is guided not by efficiency, but by precision and intuition.

This manual approach creates subtle irregularities and small variations that give the fabric its unique texture and depth.

Botanical dyeing combines plant-based pigments with synthetic dyes. Traditional natural dyeing typically relies on metal mordants to fix color, but botanical dyeing uses a protein binder instead, allowing the plant’s properties to remain intact while adhering firmly to the fabric.

A synthetic dye is applied as a base layer to ensure color stability and resistance to fading, while the plant-derived dye adds nuance and depth. The result is a color with subtle variation, never completely uniform, shifting softly with changes in light.

This is not simply color applied to the surface. Pigments are extracted from leaves and stems that would otherwise be discarded, and layered directly into the fabric. Rather than “dyeing,” it is an approach closer to wearing the materiality of the plant itself.

The process balances consistency as a product with the natural irregularity inherent to organic materials.

For this jersey fabric, dyes are derived from discarded leaves and stems rich in tannins, resulting in a subdued palette of beige and brown tones. Combined with the airy, softly textured character of loopwheel knit, the layered dye creates a surface that subtly changes expression depending on light and angle.