Our new wabi-sabi spirit sweaters 🇯🇵 and our cult knits

These sweaters are a total unexpected.

It all started during our visit to the workshop that knits our stitches in the Veneto region of Italy.

Paolo, the director of the workshop, gives us the tour, and we walk through a room filled with boxes of thread. And on these boxes, big names of Italian spinners: Cariaggi, Lanecardate, Tollegno, Zegna Baruffa, etc.

When suddenly, I saw a box with Japanese characters written on it, and above all, a name that I didn't know: Sato Seni (in Japanese: 佐藤セニ).

Very intrigued, I asked Paolo:

“—Paolo, do you work with Japanese spinners?!

— Yes a little, because they are very special sons..."

It didn't take much for me to open the box to look at these spools of thread from Japan.

To my amusement, the Japanese "leg" that I love so much is present on these reels. While the Italian bobbins have a very homogeneous thread, at Sato Seni the thread is more irregular and sometimes a little mottled.

There was clearly something to explore.

I ask Paolo if he has a piece that he knitted with these yarns and he brings out a sweater from a major French luxury house.

This “hand” of knitting definitely intrigued me more and more.

“Okay, I think we’re going to put together a prototype…”

This is how these sweaters were born, during a visit where I saw an unusual box filled with spools.

You can imagine that I was very impatient to receive our first sweaters knitted with these Sato Seni yarns!

At the reception, I was in front of a sweater in pure merino wool with a very, very particular hand: it is a nervous and dense hand, while the sweaters with Italian yarns have a more "soapy" hand. .

But it corresponded perfectly to the "thin sweater" that we wanted to obtain, the one that can easily be slipped under a blazer.

It's really like comparing a Japanese chambray and a plain chambray. They are two chambrays but with a very different spirit for each of them.

I repeat: it is an atypical and subtle garment, like a Japanese tea that must be appreciated.

It’s a slub effect that adorns these three new sweaters…

Note: to those who were present during my masterclass on February 28, it was indeed this sweater that I wore!

First color: a subtle ocean blue!

We continue with a navy blue for those who have more classic tastes.

And the third color: a beautiful bright camel for your outfits.

What makes this material so special?

I said, forget all the Italian spinners you may have touched!

It has a dry feel, usually not very present on such a fine knit. But that's all the magic of this yarn: giving "presence" in the hand despite the thin thickness of the sweater, assembled in fully fashioned .

These tiny streaks, which give this irregular, very Japanese appearance, are the result of threads turned on themselves.

And what makes this knit interesting is the slight “slub” effect, these tiny irregularities which give a soul to these sweaters… like a Japanese chambray or a slowly woven selvedge canvas.

The touch is also very nervous, which could be described as a "pancake hand". Obviously, it is a knit that almost does not crease.

Under low light, the slub effect is accentuated. BonneGueule sweater and jeans, Dajczman bracelet.

A clever mix of “S” threads and “Z” threads…

In fact, the wires are turned several times on themselves, which makes them compact.

To give you an idea, think of the moment you wring out a bath towel and imagine the same thing on a thread being spun over and over again.

The direction in which the thread is twisted is important:

• the wire is twisted counterclockwise, this is an "S twist"
• the wire is twisted clockwise, this is a "Z twist"

In practice, Paolo was given coils in “S” twist and “Z” twist, to mix them up in his own way.

It is his experience and his taste which will define this delicate balance between the two threads to have this slub finish, like light successive waves at the edge of a shore.

On the navy model, the way the wool catches the light is exquisite!

For the record, the Sato Seni staff gave us a curious “warning” at the start of our meeting:

“— Be careful, our yarns are very special, they are not knitted like Italian yarns due to their structure! Who is your knitter?

— This is Paolo de Maglieficio Venezia.

—Ah! Very good, he is a really experienced knitter with our yarns, he knows them well! »

These tiny streaks are the entire Japanese soul of this sweater!

Who is Sato Seni?

A “wabi sabi” spirit clearly visible on this very luxurious cashmere knit from Sato Seni.

“Creative” and “eccentric”: these are the two words that come to mind to describe Sato Seni.

At trade shows, their stand stands out thanks to the very fanciful and atypical mixes of materials displayed in the window.

Truly, he is a very unique spinner.

The kind of complex knitting that Sato Seni masters, rather reserved for women's fashion.

It is a company which is 90 years old, has gone through four generations and which has gradually moved up the value chain:

• the first generation produced raw materials: silk (for kimonos) and raising sheep for hand spinning
• the second processed this raw material by setting up spinning industrially (purchase of machines)
• then (we move up the value chain again), the third generation knitted finished products for other brands
• and the current generation has opened up to other activities by developing several knitwear brands (Fuga Fuga, Clothoir, M&Kyoko, Noeud) and… a restaurant !

As for men's fashion, they have their own brand, which I believe is very nice: 991 , which is obviously impossible to find in Europe, otherwise it would be too easy!

Sato Seni's beautiful HQ in the city of Yamagata.

Very surprisingly, on the home page of the site, there is a clearly visible link to the personal Facebook of the director, Masaki Sato ! As if he wanted to say: “if you want to contact me or know who I am, just come to my personal Facebook profile”.

He is easily recognized because he dyed his long hair blond.

Intrigued, I clicked and discovered a man who likes to share the trips he takes as part of his job. This is all very atypical...

With his blond hair, Masaki does not go unnoticed during his numerous trips to his suppliers. He's someone who loves taking photos all the time!

What to wear these fine sweaters with?

Outfit in a professional setting

The great thing about these sweaters is that they have the thickness to wear them under a suit jacket or blazer without any problem, so don't miss out. Especially with a gray blazer, which will nicely bring out the color of the sweater, particularly in its “ocean blue” version. :

Dobby shirt , jacket and pants in Ferla fabric .

The navy version, more classic, is perfect for an elegant outfit in a professional setting:

Brogues , pants , BonneGueule shirt and blazer , Royalties socks and Atelier Boivin clutch.

With the white jeans that BonneGueule has been recommending for years

I keep saying that white jeans should be a classic in your wardrobe.

Obviously, it will bring out the color of your sweater nicely:

And surprise: two new colors for our textured merino sweaters! 🙂

You asked us for new colors, it's done with a beautiful olive green and a taupe! I recall the important points:

• fully fashioned knitting made not far from Venice
• extrafine merino wool (fiber diameter: 19.5 microns)
• gauge 7 with 3 wires to give an intermediate thickness
• moss stitch for texture

Here are the two colors that already exist:

The taupe color

The white jeans really bring out the color of this sweater.

A beautiful olive green for spring

It’s a color that will go perfectly with faded jeans .

With our sleeveless vest , you have an outfit that is very suitable for fluctuating weather.

Our sweaters are perfectly suited to the approaching spring!

I am very, very proud to offer sweaters with Japanese yarn because, on the French market, I have never seen one before.

“There's something about these sweaters…” : that's the thought I've had several times because I've often had compliments on the prototype I was wearing, whether from people not particularly interested in it. clothing or that of more passionate people.

This is ultimately the magic of Japanese materials: they manage to catch the eye but with the subtlety of a good Japanese tea.

Depending on the colors you prefer and your level of nervousness, a whole range of sweaters is now available to you.

Do you just want a sweater to wear under a blazer? No problem, the Sato Seni yarn sweaters will be the right thickness.

Want a little more thickness to wear a work jacket over? Our seed stitch sweaters are here for you.

See you soon on the other side,

Benedict

How to get our new wabi-sabi 🇯🇵 sweaters and cult knits?

Visit our stores in Paris , Lyon and Bordeaux or our e-shop .