The thick sweater
Released in September 2017
Released in September 2020
Switch to a machine-washable wool thanks to an electrical treatment
Released in October 2021
New wool: to prevent shrinking in the wash, the old wool underwent an electrical treatment known as "plasma", but this weakened it and could in particular cause the seams to tear. We've switched to a wool with a more conventional treatment known as "total easy care" from Tollegno 1900.
Released in October 2024
The sweater's different panels are joined with a sewing machine instead of a linking machine (where the stitches are knitted one by one with a wool thread). Granted, it's less artisanal, but experience has shown us it's far more durable: with sewn seams, there's less risk of them coming apart.
Part of the production has been brought back to France: the beige colour is made in Roanne, in central France (the other colours are made in Portugal)
Wool keeps you warm because it traps nearly 80% air within its fibres. For this garment, we use a fine merino wool: with a diameter of just 19.5 microns, the result is a sweater that's soft as well as warm.
Our wool comes from Tollegno 1900, a well-known Italian spinning mill. We also use this same quality for our roll-neck sweater.
A chunky sweater made to keep you warm: it weighs around 600g in a size M.
It's thicker than our chunky turtleneck sweater and less warm than our ribbed sweater.
The wool is treated so it can be machine-washed without felting. We still recommend using the wool programme, or just airing it out from time to time (wool doesn't need washing).
This sweater is made in Portugal, except for the beige colour, which is knitted in France.
Worn, tested and approved by thousands of customers, this sweater is the result of several years of continuous improvement. We've refined it over time to reach a quality-ethics-price balance we now consider optimal. For example, we could use virgin wool (that is, wool not treated for machine washing), but it would come at the expense of durability: in the past, we had a lot of returns of sweaters that had felted because they were accidentally put in the machine.
The techniques behind the quality
Sewn seams
Generally, "fully fashion" sweaters knitted in shaped panels (like ours) are joined by linking, a technique where the stitches are re-knitted together one by one. We prefer to assemble ours with seams: in our experience, this stops the seams from splitting at the shoulders or underarms.
Sewn seams
Total Easy Care treatment
Knitted as tightly as possible
Pre-washed
Total Easy Care treatment
With water, friction and heat, untreated wool shrinks and compacts (we say it "felts"). On a microscopic level, this happens because the scales of the fibre catch on one another. To prevent this, a Total Easy Care treatment is applied, also called Superwash or KROY-ERCOSETT. The idea: the scales of the fibre are oxidised, then a very fine resin is applied that forms a continuous film, which stops the fibres from catching and therefore stops the wool from felting.
This treatment can be polluting if it's carried out in countries with low environmental standards. That's why we source from a factory based in Italy known for its high environmental standards (Oekotex 100 and 4S CHEM certification, more info here).
If you prefer sweaters made from virgin wool (meaning untreated) and don't mind hand-washing them, take a look at our fine-knit sweater, our polo-collar sweater and our ribbed sweater
Sewn seams
Total Easy Care treatment
Knitted as tightly as possible
Pre-washed
Knitted as tightly as possible
The stitch is knitted as tightly as possible. This uses more yarn and therefore costs more, but it keeps pilling to a minimum and gives the sweater more structure.
Sewn seams
Total Easy Care treatment
Knitted as tightly as possible
Pre-washed
Pre-washed
This sweater is pre-washed at the factory (before it's sewn, while it's still in panel form).
Sewn seams
Total Easy Care treatment
Knitted as tightly as possible
Pre-washed
The zero-risk sweater
No style risk with its classic cut. No risk of getting cold with its thick 100% wool fabric. No risk of itching thanks to the extra-fine merino wool fibres. And no risk of “OH NO IT SHRANK 3 SIZES IN THE WASH”: our wool is treated so it won't felt when washed.
In detail
Classic fit
The cut follows the line of the body without clinging. And because wool is naturally stretchy, this sweater fits every body shape.
Jersey stitch
A smooth stitch that limits snags and pilling.
"Fully fashioned" knitting
Also called "fully fashioned": the panels (back, front, sleeves and collar) are knitted directly to the right shape to avoid wasting wool.
Dropped shoulder line
The shoulder seam sits slightly towards the back: this makes it less visible and helps the sweater fall more neatly.
How to wear it
A few ideas if you're stuck
Composition
100% wool
Origin and certifications
- Manufacturing and knitting: the beige sweater is made in Roanne, France, and the other colours are made in Portugal
- Spinning and dyeing: Poland, Italy or Bulgaria depending on the production run
- Wool: Australia or South America depending on the production run
... not make every colour in France? To support made in France, we produce one colour of our sweater in France (the beige one). It costs us a bit more than making it in Portugal, so we cut into our margin to offer it at the same price as the other colours. If we wanted to make every colour in France, we'd have to raise the selling price of this sweater by €10.
... not wool from French sheep? Sadly, because it's less fine than wool from the southern hemisphere, and because the French supply chain has almost completely disappeared. We explain all of this in more detail on this page.
How this product will age
How do we know? We ask our customers what they think of the product one year after they've bought it. And if the product is less than a year old, we give you our predictions based on some spontaneous feedback and on our experience with similar products.
Thanks to the elastic properties of wool, this sweater will barely lose its shape. If the sleeves stretch out a little, you can tighten them back up with an iron as explained here. This sweater will also hold up well at the elbows thanks to the thickness of the fabric – so far, only a small handful of people have reported a hole to us.
It might occasionally pill slightly in areas of friction, on the sides for example... but nothing a fabric shaver can't handle (and the more pills you remove, the less likely they are to come back).
The biggest risk with this wool sweater is moths, if they settle into your wardrobe! So here's a short article to read here to keep them from moving in.
Care instructions
No need to wash this sweater: airing it out for 24 hours will get rid of any smells. But if you really want to, you can put it in the machine (wool cycle).
No tumble dryer, to avoid any risk of shrinking the sweater. Don't dry it on a hanger either: your wet sweater is heavy and could lose its shape under the weight of the water. The best thing for its lifespan (and for the planet) is to dry it flat, on a drying rack or a towel.
On the other hand, you're absolutely allowed to iron it — quite the opposite! It can even help it get its shape back. Speaking of which, our factory sometimes goes a bit heavy on the ironing, which has left a crease at the shoulder. To get rid of it, all you have to do is... iron the crease out. Here's the result in this photo.
By the way, if the ends of your sweater start to sag, we explain here how to tighten them up with your iron.
Environmental cost
This environmental cost is calculated using the official methodology of the French environmental labelling scheme (in force since 1 October 2025).
The label above shows the product's environmental cost according to the official methodology of the French environmental labelling scheme. It's what its manufacture "costs" nature when you look at its impact on climate change, ocean acidification, its toxicity to freshwater, and so on. Currently rolled out in the textile sector, this label should soon appear on many everyday consumer products (food, cosmetics, furniture, etc.) to help you shop more responsibly.
The thick sweater therefore has an environmental cost of 2765 impact points*.
By comparison, a garment of equivalent weight, 100% acrylic, made in Bangladesh and sold by a fast fashion brand, has an environmental cost of 3233 points*.
Why the difference? Here are the main reasons:
- The countries of production: manufacturing in Portugal or France requires less fossil fuel than in Bangladesh (one of the main producers of low-cost clothing). The result: this more local manufacturing limits the impacts on climate change, ocean acidification and resource depletion.
- The material: wool has a fairly significant environmental impact, mainly because sheep release methane during digestion, a gas with a strong greenhouse effect. That's why the difference between the impact of our product and that of fast fashion isn't very large. However, unlike acrylic, wool has major advantages: it's warm (thanks to its insulating properties), keeps its shape (the fibre is very elastic), breathable (it wicks away sweat) and odour-resistant (it prevents bacteria from developing).
- Durability: fast fashion brands drive purchases in particular by refreshing their collections very quickly and offering a huge number of styles, and they discourage repairs by charging laughably low prices. This increases the number of garments sold per person and reduces the number of times a garment is worn. At Loom, we've done the opposite: we've chosen business practices that encourage our customers to keep their clothes as long as possible.
Even though we've done everything we can to keep it as low as possible, the environmental impact of this product is not negligible. So before you buy, make your clothes last as long as you possibly can.
*Calculations performed by Loom on 31/08/2026. Click on the links to access the simulations from the official Ecobalyse tool and get more details on the assumptions used. Please note: the number of points is not always exactly the same on Ecobalyse (whose method evolves regularly) as on the official environmental label (based on version 7.0 of Ecobalyse)
Reviews for this product
The standard practice is to send review request e-mails a few days after the purchase. We wait a month, the minimum time needed to form a well-informed opinion
Customer review policy
When do you ask customers for reviews?
We send you a review request one month after you receive your order. We reckon that's the minimum amount of time needed to have worn and washed a garment several times and to really form a well-informed opinion. After that, all your reviews are published within the week, whether they're good or not.
Do you ask for reviews on 100% of the products customers order?
We used to do that at first, then we realised we were starting to send far too many emails to some people who buy from us regularly. In short, we were spamming a bit. On top of that, it was starting to take up way too much of the team's time to reply to reviews - since we want to reply individually and privately to almost every person who leaves us a review. Today, we no longer ask for reviews on products that meet the following two criteria: 1/ There are enough reviews shown on the site for people who want to buy to form a well-informed opinion about the product 2/ We've read enough reviews within the Loom team to understand how to improve the product for the next generation.
Hold your horses: what proves we don't tamper with reviews by slapping 5 stars everywhere?
Honestly: nothing, we're just giving you our word. Same as for everything else, by the way: where we manufacture, where our wool comes from, our lab test scores, and so on. The only times we might touch what you write are if your message contains spelling mistakes (and even then, quite a few slip past us) or if it's racist, homophobic, and so on (but that's never happened so far).
Asking for a review after a month isn't enough to know whether the clothes really are durable, is it?
You're right, which is why we send you another review request email a year after your purchase – we even ask for a photo to see how your garment has aged. The answers help us improve our clothes and provide information about "how this product will age" on our product pages. To avoid bothering our customers needlessly, we don't ask for these reviews on 100% of the products ordered: as soon as we have enough data to understand the areas for improvement, we stop asking for the one-year reviews.