Text: Ben Davis (The White Paper)
Translation: Yuto Miyamoto
Video: Masaki Miyamoto
Special Thanks: Wada Meriyasu
Each and every Futo product begins with the material itself. When it comes to the long-sleeve knit top, that material is a soft, fluffy cotton fabric made in Wakayama prefecture. Dating back to the early eighteenth century, Wakayama’s textile industry grew through the production of cotton "tabi" footwear, Kishu flannel and meriyasu, a knitted fabric that stretches both vertically and horizontally.
Taking its name from this material, Wada Meriyasu has been making high-quality fabrics for the past seven decades. Founded in 1957, the company specialises in the use of loopwheel knitting machines, bell-like contraptions that hang from the ceiling, rotating to knit in a cylindrical form. They also embody a slow approach to production, yielding only a metre of fabric per hour. This low output saw many machines replaced by high-speed sinker knitting machines during Japan’s period of rapid economic growth, making loopwheel-knitted fabrics and their creators increasingly rare. Yet amidst the focus on speed, efficiency and automation in today’s world, their quality-over-quantity production – born from slowness – has gained new value and become highly acclaimed.
“If sinker knitting machines are the Shinkansen, loopwheel machines are the local trains (stopping at all stations),” says Asako Sakata from KINTO’s product development team. “They’re inefficient and there’s no ‘express’ service. But what they can do is make fabric that feels soft and comfortable against the skin, knitted using the forces of gravity. It’s a material that aligns with the speed of nature.”
Operating almost one-hundred times slower than a conventional machine, the loopwheel’s low-tension knitting process creates fabrics that are both soft and durable. Searching for a material that was thick yet comfortable, Sakata chose one of Wada Meriyasu’s standard fabrics, the result of decades of experimentation, fine-tuning machinery and processes along the way.
The idea of refining rather than reinventing extended to the design of the top, which was dyed, sewn and finished in Nagoya. Building on a classic shape, the ribbed collar was adjusted to find the ideal width, while the armholes were widened for comfortable movement. Even the sleeve angles were adjusted, ensuring that fabric wouldn’t gather under the arms. This balance of form and function allows it to be worn in a range of everyday situations. “I really want people to enjoy the material in the simplest way possible,” explains Sakata. “The more it’s worn and washed, the more soft and comfortable it becomes.” The aim is for the knit top to become part of everyday life, bringing the same peace of mind as your favourite record, home-cooked meal or coffee mug.