A deep look at the Freedom Sleeve Sweatshirt scheduled for release at the end of September! We also sneaked into the flocking print factory!

2023 January 9

Thank you for always reading our blog.
My name is Takahashi, and I am the public relations officer for JELADO.

Today is Friday.
Speaking of Friday, it's the release day of the Jelado Channel (YouTube).

Every Friday at 6:XNUMX p.m."Is it useful?" "Is it just a joke?" We provide information from every angle.

Today's Jelado Channel will be an in-depth video focusing on the Freedom Sleeve Sweatshirt that was released last year.

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The content of the video is by Usui-san, who is well-known in the cut-and-sew field and with whom we work together on manufacturing.We invited special guest, Riding High representative, to have a talk session with Goto. We also recorded an interview at the flocking print factory.

This sweatshirt is the second release following last year's, and is quickly becoming one of JELADO's staple items.

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We have wanted to offer freedom sleeve sweatshirts and flocked print sweatshirts to the market for some time, but we had determined that this would be difficult due to production issues and rising raw material costs.

However, by chance I met Mr. Usui (CEO of Riding High), and the Freedom Sleeve series became a reality.

Usui has been manufacturing sweatshirts under his own brand, Riding High, for a long time, producing high-quality products and gaining extensive knowledge.

Usui's attitude and way of thinking about manufacturing was instructive and there were many similarities with JELADO's manufacturing philosophy, which led to the development of some wonderful items.

JELADO is passionate about recreating the vintage items it owns in modern times.

This 2 Tone Freedom Sleeve Sweatshirt (Salt & Pepper/Mint) was inspired by JELADO's vintage collection.

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*This is a vintage freedom sleeve owned by JELADO.

The body is knitted using an old-fashioned Azuma knitting machine, with a round body (no side seams).

Azuma knitting machines were used around the 1970s and are rare, allowing you to enjoy the uneven surface and fluffy texture.

In addition, round brushing requires four times as much work as regular brushing, as it requires brushing on all four sides.

A process called "pre-brushing" is carried out before dyeing to achieve a high-quality finish.

I wasn't able to cover the knitting machine this time, but I would like to do so if I get the chance.

And it is no exaggeration to say that the main dish of this blog is the flocked print.

Previously on JELADOFlocked print itemsAlthough the business was expanding, it was difficult to repeat the business due to issues such as the issue of finding successors for the factories.
However, when I worked with Riding High, I felt a sense of the atmosphere of that time with Usui.I had hopes that flocked printing could become a reality..

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*Scheduled to arrive in late September. A close-up print of JELADO Fink University [AB9]

In particular, the 0.8mm pile length flocked print is an element that differentiates this product from others.

Generally, a pile height of 0.5mm is considered the limit, so the 0.8mm pile has been highly praised for its uniqueness.

This flocked print is done by hand, one piece at a time, by skilled craftsmen.

This technique cannot be achieved with mass production machines and takes many times more time and effort than usual.
Therefore, there are only a limited number of places where printing can be done using this method.

However, this time-consuming process results in a high-quality finish, and flocked-print sweatshirts are highly valued in the vintage market, generally trading for around 5 yen.

The flocking printing process this time roughly consists of the following steps.
*For more details, please watch the video on the Jelado Channel at the end of the book.

①Set the fabric
In order to set the round body, it is not only placed on the print bed, but also passed through a board to set it as if it were wearing clothes.It takes more effort than usual

②Silkscreen printing
Resin (with adhesive) is printed on the base fabric of the print. Static electricity is generated on top of it, and short cut rayon fiber powder is dropped vertically onto the body. This creates the pile of the flocked print.

3. Removing excess powder and fixing the print
Next, a machine is used to remove excess powder and heat the print to harden it. To create a thicker print, static electricity is again generated to drop the powder vertically onto the body, and again the excess powder is removed and heat is applied to harden the print.

④Addition of print color
Add color to the print and accent the design. The graphics this time are gray, red, and green. Each color is silkscreen printed.

⑤ Fixing the final print
A final heat treatment in a large tumbler fixes the print, making it durable and washable.

In this way, we were able to see for ourselves that flocking printing is a time-consuming and labor-intensive process that requires skilled craftsmanship, and that the result is high-quality, special items.

What I felt was that they produce our items with passion and pride.

The printing was done by hand, requiring multiple walks back and forth around the factory, and the temperatures inside the factory were extremely high because the heat-generating tumblers were constantly running.

Although we were not able to capture the entire story in this episode of the Jelado Channel, we believe we will be able to convey the passion of Japanese manufacturing.