CAMO MERINO SET 01

I took the pattern straight from video games. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Weapon skins were always stuck in my head. Especially urban camo — that technical, precise pattern you recognize instantly. I thought: I want that on a sweater. Just not as a print. If camo was going to be on knitwear, I wanted it to be part of the material itself. Knitted. Stitch by stitch. Woven into the construction of the sweater, not printed onto its surface.

And, of course, it turned out that saying it was a lot easier than actually doing it. Finding a place that could execute the pattern with that level of precision took us a lot of time and even more nerves. But eventually, we got it right. Then came the feel. I wanted this sweater to be fluffy. Soft. A little like the best Christmas sweater you’ve ever owned. Just without everything I hate about Christmas sweaters. No scratchy wool.

No feeling like you can’t breathe. No moment, an hour in, when you want to rip it off. So we started looking for really good merino wool. Not the cheapest one that checked the boxes. The kind you actually want to touch. The color was a completely different story. I had the American rap scene in my head here. People who put on a bold color and don’t stop five times to wonder whether they’re drawing too much attention. That’s exactly the point.

I had a specific situation in my head. I walk into an event. Everyone’s in shirts and jackets, dressed safely, exactly the way they’re supposed to be. And I walk in wearing this. Sweater. Camo. Bold color. And I couldn’t give a fuck that someone thinks I should be wearing a shirt. Or Courchevel. Val Thorens. You come back from skiing to one of those hotels where, even in the evening, everyone looks like they were sent the dress code in advance.

And you walk through the lobby in a soft merino sweater. Except the quality of that sweater means you’re no less luxurious than anyone else there. You’re just dressed your way. And I think that’s what I was trying to do from the beginning. I didn’t want to make an elegant sweater. I didn’t want to make streetwear with an expensive logo either. I wanted to make something so good that I could give a fuck where I wear it.

MERINO SET. Karl Tomas.

Details

• Includes: knitted sweater, knitted trousers
• Composition: 100% fine merino wool
• Pattern: urban camo knitted into the fabric: black, charcoal grey, steel grey, racing orange