A SWEATER IS LOVE. Because without love, this Aran sweater would never have come into existence. If you look carefully, you can see that this sweater in fact features 30 separate patterns, each exquisitely crafted and uniting to create a sweater of unsurpassed beauty. A sweater like this is not merely made possible by the most advanced knitting techniques, but also requires a remarkable amount of time and dedication. In other words, it would not be possible without the unstinting love of a knitter willing to devote so much effort on behalf of the person who would wear her creation.

A SWEATER IS LOVE. Our sweater was inspired by what has been called “the finest Aran sweater of the 21st century,” one that encapsulates the legendary skills and devotion of the most famed hand knitter in all the Aran Islands, the late Máirín Ní Dhomhnaill. This sweater is the property of Yaichiro Nozawa, who is credited for having helped popularize Aran sweaters throughout Japan, and who travelled to Ireland to meet with Ms. Ní Dhomhnaill and personally request the knitting of this remarkable sweater. In the years that followed, it became Mr. Nozawa’s dream to somehow make this unique and extraordinary masterpiece a sweater that could be shared with the rest of the world.

A SWEATER IS LOVE. Máirín Ní Dhomhnaill was a legendary knitter who became world famous when she presented one of her hand-knit sweaters to Pope John Paul II in 1981. Born on Inis Meáin, one of the three Aran islands, she began to learn the art of knitting at the age of 6 by watching and imitating her mother, and her talent was later discovered by Pádraig Ó Síocháin, an Irish journalist and entrepreneur who would help to pioneer the sales of Aran sweaters around the world. Her life revolved around the creation of beautiful, hand-knit items until her death in 2020 at the age of 85, and she is remembered for stating that “Aran sweaters do not come from technical skills, but from the heart.”

A SWEATER IS LOVE. At Yonetomi Seni, we set out to create a sweater that would do justice to “the finest Aran sweater of the 21st century,” this treasured possession of Yaichiro Nozawa that was hand-knit by Máirín Ní Dhomhnaill herself. We had serious doubts as to whether we could even begin to approach one of the world’s foremost masterpieces of knitting crafted by the world’s greatest hand knitter, and even as a long-established knit factory, it was a challenge that far exceeded our expectations. We went through a repeated process of trial and error, and were required to push our limits to ever higher levels. As we found within ourselves the love that allowed us to willingly embrace all the technical effort, time and dedication necessary to create this single sweater, we finally discovered our answer.

A SWEATER IS LOVE. Conveyed from Ireland to Japan, this boundless love for knitting sweaters has managed to cross oceans and national borders in addition to transcending time and generational divides – and we believe it will continue to be passed along. It is not difficult to imagine someone wearing this sweater 100 years from now, perhaps a great-grandchild of yours who inherited the sweater from you. This would indeed be a testament to the fact that the unquenchable love which resides in this sweater is one that no amount of time can dim.

Our THIS IS A SWEATER brand delves into the heart of what a sweater really is, and this time we sought to knit an Aran sweater which remains faithful to the history, traditions and narrative of the region, but which also suits our contemporary lifestyle. Our efforts culminated in a sweater that features a classic Aran look but is soft and gentle enough to be worn over a short-sleeved shirt without being itchy or irritating, even for those with delicate or sensitive skin.

Aran sweaters were traditionally knitted from 100% wool yarn which had a tendency to be coarse and thick, and some used unscoured wool which retained its natural lanolin, making the sweaters water-resistant and extremely durable. This is the type of yarn used to knit the Aran sweaters we find in vintage clothing shops, and while this yarn has become somewhat softer over the years, it can still make these sweaters feel itchy on the skin.

We addressed this issue by creating a 100% wool yarn that is in fact a combination of three types of wool, each from a different region and with differing micron (wool fiber diameter) counts and wool qualities. We spun 30 micron British wool, 30 micron Uruguayan wool and 14.8 micron Uruguayan wool into a thick yarn which gives the resulting sweater a chunky, hand-knit texture, but also possesses a cashmere-like softness. Both classic and modern, this yarn possesses a special quality that makes it the ideal choice for a sweater that has taught us so much about love.