During the early days of Archival Clothing, I posted photos from my 2007 trip to Centralia Knitting Mills. I was in pursuit of the Skookum “award” sweater which I first saw in the Japanese web shop Explorer (a favorite).
Skookum Award sweater for Explorer Import Shop (Japan)
Last week, Tom and I returned to Centralia to make plans for an Archival Knitwear project. We’re picking up where we left off last Spring when we first proposed to manufacturer an all wool, shawl collar sweater based on historical photographs and patterns. Our meeting was a total success and we’ll update you shortly on what we have planned. One interesting detail: nearly 50% of Centralia’s products are now made for Japanese retailers including Nepenthes, Engineered Garments and a fascinating fellow known as Red Gingham.
[Centralia makes use of equipment that is 50+ years old. Working with Centralia gives us a rare opportunity to produce new knitwear that comes out of the past. blah blah maybe have line about the fragility of operation… next generation? making visible to broader us market]
Here are some updated photos of the knitting mills w/annotations by Tom.
