The sweatshirt, born in the 1920s in the USA, was initially conceived as practical athletic wear by Benjamin Russell Jr., a football player discontented with itchy wool jerseys. Its comfortable cotton fleece soon attracted non-athletes, escalating its popularity in American colleges.

This sweatshirt, in a relatively light weight 9oz. Loopwheel knitted cotton is an unbrushed loopback French Terry, making it more breathable than its brushed counterpart. Loopwheel machines on which this tubular constructed fabric is made, are renowned for their slow knitting pace, producing only a single meter of fabric per hour. However, this low thread tension technique is what sets them apart from contemporary manufacturing methods and creates an exceptional and distinctive fabric. The resulting material is reminiscent of hand-woven textiles and possesses a unique stretchy quality and washed look of old American sweatshirts that can only be reproduced on a loopwheel knitting machine. This loopwheel sweat is knitted in Wakayama, Japan, using extremely rare machines, known in Japan as Tsuriami-ki and even rarer skill and technique, exclusively for The Real McCoy’s.

Unlike mass-produced sweatshirts, The Real McCoy’s use different yarns across the layers of the sweat to achieve the optimal finish, density and comfort.

This crewneck benefits from a raglan sleeve design that creates a flattering silhouette and vintage fit, while improving mobility in the arm. The raglan sleeve was first designed in the mid-1800s for Lord Raglan, a British field marshal, to accommodate his arm movement after losing his arm in the Battle of Waterloo and was adapted into sweatshirt design for Athletic performance.

Some shrinkage expected when washed

Cotton Sewing Thread Construction

Loopwheel Cotton Fabric, 9 oz.

Made in Japan on Vintage Tsuriami-ki machines