Journal
Super Gauze
CRAFT TERAKOYA
Super Gauze — A 45R Essential
At 45R, our clothes are shaped by people who work closely with materials and form, giving careful thought to every detail along the way.
CRAFT TERAKOYA introduces the people behind our making. With those involved in creating 45R clothes as our teachers, we uncover the ideas, techniques, and stories woven into each piece.
For our third lesson, we once again learn from Norio Sugahara of the Koromo Planning Office, who leads 45R’s Knit, Cut & Sew, and BOYS collections, as he takes us deeper into the world of Super Gauze.
One in 500,000 — An Exceptionally Rare Cotton
What kind of cotton lies behind the exceptionally smooth, soft feel of Super Gauze?
From the 45R Book, Spring/Summer 2017 — a journey tracing the roots of our Supima organic cotton.
“The Supima organic cotton we use is an exceptionally rare extra-long staple organic cotton, accounting for only about one five-hundred-thousandth of the world’s cotton production. In fact, this year’s production is zero. As far as I know, 45R is the only clothing brand using this particular cotton. I’ve also heard that a towel maker in Japan uses it.
The main reason it feels so good against the skin is that the hollow structure inside the fibers remains intact. That allows the material itself to help regulate temperature and humidity, which is what gives it such a comfortable feel.
We weren’t specifically looking for an organic cotton. We simply found a material that felt wonderful and that we really liked—and it just happened to be organic.”
Where is this exceptionally rare Supima organic cotton grown?
“It is grown on a farm in New Mexico, in the southern United States. To grow cotton organically, several conditions have to come together: there needs to be a significant difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures so there are fewer insects, irrigation must be available while the harvest season stays dry, and winter frost needs to kill off the leaves naturally without the use of defoliants.
Because no agricultural chemicals are used, wild grasses and plants grow alongside the cotton as well, and I’ve heard that all of that has to be removed by hand.”
The History of Super Gauze
How a T-Shirt Grew into Super Gauze
Super Gauze has become one of 45R’s familiar standards. Could you tell us how it first came about?
“In the past, there were really only two kinds of jersey fabric: do-zume tenjiku, a densely knitted jersey with a firm, compact structure, and do-ama tenjiku, a loosely knitted jersey with a soft, airy, gauze-like feel. From those two starting points, the possibilities gradually expanded, and that is how Super Gauze was born.
At first, it was a cut-and-sew piece made with Zimbabwe cotton. From there, it evolved into a knit-sew using Suvin cotton, and eventually into a knit made from Supima organic cotton. Little by little, we arrived at a texture that could truly be described as ‘cashmere in cotton.’”
Super Gauze from past collections, tracing how the fabric has evolved over time.
“When we first started making Super Gauze, we thought of it as a T-shirt, so it was cut and sewn by machine in much the same way as a jersey T-shirt.
At the time, we were only making it in small quantities, and it wasn’t yet what you would call a 45R standard. But after our New York store opened in 2000, Super Gauze was very well received there, and I remember that it gradually became familiar to customers in Japan as well.”
The Future of Super Gauze
New Colors, Rare Materials, and What Comes Next
Super Gauze has long been loved as one of 45R’s signature materials, despite being made from such a rare cotton. How would you like to see it evolve from here?
“I’d like to explore color even further. Each month, we develop the colors of Super Gauze and the other pieces around it to suit that month’s theme. When we work on those colors, we’re always imagining how beautiful the entire collection will look when everything comes together in the store.”
Super Gauze in top-dyed yarns, arranged like a palette of color.
“For each individual color, we try to preserve the ‘tweed-like’ character of top-dyed yarn. Like Shetland wool, we want the yarn to have a sense of depth, almost as if a piece of the natural landscape had been captured in color, so we are constantly studying and refining the color blends.
This isn’t limited to Super Gauze, but I don’t think there are many brands that explore top dyeing this deeply to create such a wide range of colors. Usually, when people think of top-dyed yarn, they think of gray.”
“But the biggest challenge in continuing to make Super Gauze will undoubtedly be the raw material itself. If Supima organic cotton becomes unavailable, we simply won’t be able to make the same thing.
The reality is that we don’t know how long we’ll be able to maintain the conditions that make this material possible.”
“And I’d really like more men to try Super Gauze as well. I wear the indigo-dyed and indigo versions myself all the time. Even layered together, Super Gauze feels incredibly comfortable.”
Once again, we were reminded that the comfort of Super Gauze is made possible not only by the richness of nature, but also by the people who carefully grow and nurture the cotton behind it. Knowing that makes each piece feel all the more precious.
After hearing Sugahara talk about how he wears it himself, I think I’ll start with an indigo Super Gauze piece of my own.
