9月末発売予定フリーダムスリーブのSweat Shirtを深堀り！フロッキープリント工場へも潜入！

A Deep Dive into the Freedom Sleeve Sweatshirt, Releasing Late September! We Also Went Behind the Scenes at a Flock Print Factory!

September 8, 2023

Thank you for always reading our blog.
I'm Takahashi, JELADO's public relations representative.

Today is Friday.
Friday means it's time for the Jelado Channel (YouTube) to be released.

Every Friday at 6:30 PM, we deliver information from all angles, whether it's "useful" or "just for fun."

Today's Jelado Channel features an in-depth video focusing on the freedom sleeve Sweat Shirt that we released last year.

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The video features a talk session with Goto and Mr. Usu (CEO of Riding High), a renowned figure in the cut-and-sew field with whom we collaborate on manufacturing, as a special guest. We also included a factory visit to a flock printing facility.

This Sweat Shirt is our second release since last year and is becoming one of JELADO's standard items.

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We had previously wanted to offer freedom sleeve sweatshirts and flock print sweatshirts to the market, but decided it was difficult due to production background issues and soaring raw material costs.

However, by chance, we met Mr. Usu (CEO of Riding High), and the commercialization of the freedom sleeve series became a reality.

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

Mr. Usu's approach and philosophy towards manufacturing were educational, and many aspects aligned with JELADO's manufacturing philosophy, leading to the development of wonderful items.

JELADO is passionate about reproducing its vintage items for modern times.

These 2 Tone freedom sleeve sweatshirts (Salt & Pepper / Mint) are 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 Azuma knitting machine, creating a tubular body (without side seams).

The Azuma knitting machine was used around the 1970s and is a rare find, offering a textured surface and a fluffy feel.

Also, in the case of circular napping, it takes four times as much effort as normal napping because napping is done on four sides.

By performing a "pre-napping" process before dyeing, we achieved a high-quality finish.

We couldn't interview the knitting machine this time, so we hope to visit it when we have the chance.

And the main dish of this blog, so to speak, is flock printing.

Previously, JELADO also developed flock print items, but there was a background where repeat production was difficult due to issues such as successor problems at the factory.
However, through the manufacturing process with Riding High, we had hope that we could achieve flock prints that had the feel of the old days with Mr. Usu.

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*Photo close-up of the print on JELADO Fink University [AB82222], scheduled to arrive in late September

In particular, the flock print with a pile length of 0.8 mm is a differentiating factor from others.

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

This flock print is done by skilled craftsmen, one by one, by hand.

This method cannot be achieved with mass-produced machinery and requires many times more time and effort than usual.
Therefore, there are limited places where printing can be done using this method.

However, this labor-intensive process produces a high-quality finish, and flock-printed sweatshirts are highly valued in the vintage market, reportedly trading for around 50,000 yen.

The flock printing process generally involves the following steps:
*For more details, please watch the video from Jelado Channel at the end of this blog.

① Set the fabric
Setting a circular body takes more effort than usual because it is not just placed on a printing table but also dressed onto a board as if putting clothes on.

② Screen printing
Resin (with adhesive) is printed on the base fabric. Static electricity is then generated, and short-cut rayon fibers are dropped perpendicularly onto the body. This forms the flock print pile.

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

④ Adding print colors
Colors are added to the print to accent the design. This graphic uses gray, red, and green. Each color is screen-printed one by one.

⑤ Final print setting
Finally, heat is applied with a large tumbler to set the print as a finishing touch. This process makes the print durable and able to withstand washing.

Thus, we were able to see firsthand that flock printing is a process that requires the time and effort of skilled craftsmen, and as a result, high-quality and special items are created.

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

The printing work was done by hand, walking back and forth in the factory many times, and the work was carried out in a very hot factory because the heat-emitting tumblers were always in operation.

Although this Jelado Channel video doesn't capture the entire process, I believe it will convey the passionate spirit of Japanese manufacturing.