Finest Knitwear: V-Neck

A luxury staple. A piece to be worn every day, yet the finest of its type, anywhere. 

The Finest Knitwear uses one of the finest merino yarns, and the finest knitting gauge. 

It uses merino rather than cashmere because, lovely as cashmere is, when knitted finely it tends to pill and to lose its shape. Fine merino, on the other hand, approaches cashmere in its feel but pills less, holds its shape and looks sharper.

As to the gauge, the factory in central Italy uses an adapted knitting bed to knit at 37 gauge (the number of needles to the inch). For comparison, John Smedley’s fine knit is 30 gauge.

This makes the knitwear fine, but not particularly delicate - certainly compared to cashmere. It fits under any jacket, and it provides a notable layer of warmth without being too heavy.

This makes it good for travelling, given it folds up small and is so lightweight (150g). And suited to modern offices - when the air conditioning can mean wearing a jacket or normal knitwear is too warm.

The level of manufacture is the best anywhere, with highlights shown in the image close-ups opposite. These include:

• A wide join between the body and the sleeve, which means it can be thinner and flatter, almost eradicating the feeling of a seam

• Where seams join, the yarn flattened out and re-stitched, to remove the small, hard knot most knitwear has

• The collar knitted as once piece, so there is no seam (for example) on the back of the point of the V-neck

The design, too, features some subtle points that make it more elegant and perfect for tailoring:

• Crewneck has an ever-so-slightly larger collar, to give a shirt room to spread out around the neck.

• V-neck has a slightly lower opening than normal, to flatter the wearer and better reflect the line of a jacket’s lapels.

• Ribbing on the bottom of the body is longer than normal - 7cm rather than 6cm - which has the effect of lengthening the legs (always a key aim of tailoring)

• And the sleeve cuff is also lengthened the same amount, to 7cm, which makes it feel dressier

The Finest Knitwear is a unique, luxurious product, but priced for online sales: £190 (ex-VAT) where luxury brands would have it well over £300.

Now available in navy and green.