[Lightning 30th Project] GIZEMO*Lightning

It all started with an encounter with a sweater. There is a showroom/warehouse of a vintage dealer on the West Coast of the United States that Lightning Editor-in-Chief Matsushima, who has an eye for vintage military clothing, visits once or twice a year. I mainly go for interviews and consultations about events, but I also promise to go on a treasure hunt in addition to that. We are the world's most reputed dealer for military collections. I always forget the time and dig through the treasure trove.

Two years ago, I came across a bright red sweater there. It was a rare sweater with USN and its symbolic anchor knitted large on the front, and the US Navy destroyer USS Davis, which was commissioned in 1957, along with its name and ship type symbol, knitted on the back. This sweater was likely hand-knitted by a crew member or their family, and although it has a military design, it is unlikely to be military-spec. Naturally, there was no sign of a product tag or anything like that. It is rare for a one-of-a-kind hand-knitted item to be found on the secondhand clothing market, so it does not easily increase in market value. However, the design as a knitted item was so outstanding that I fell in love at first sight and bought it. Could this one-of-a-kind item be made into a product? This thought was the first chapter of the project.

If we were to commercialize it, wouldn't more people be able to wear it as a Cowichan rather than a straight replica? That's what I thought. I also thought that it would be difficult to make it bright red, so I thought about changing the color. USN is, of course, US Navy. So wouldn't it be more USN-like to make the color navy? I immediately took a vintage piece and inquired about it with several manufacturers. However, there were problems such as too many patterns and the patterns were too complicated, so it didn't seem realistic. If each piece cost hundreds of thousands of yen, no one would be able to afford it. In that case, Matsushima would have no choice but to enjoy the original vintage on his own. Too bad. And so this project ended in failure... This is the second chapter.

It was a coincidence that this storm began. Chapter 3 begins with an encounter with a new brand called GIZEMO at an event held in China. The brand's main products are mainly woven military reproduction items, but they also make Cowichan sweaters. When I tried it on, the quality was very high. I was really impressed with the texture of the 100% wool yarn, the skill of the knitting, the pattern and the detailed work. I was so impressed that the owner of the brand gave me a sample. I took it back to the editorial department and showed it to the staff who are knowledgeable about clothes, and their reaction was exactly the same as mine. So the story of the USN knit was rekindled. I immediately explained the details to GIZEMO and sent them a vintage red knit. After a while, the first sample was completed, and I asked them to revise the zipper specifications and knitting pattern, and the second sample arrived. I made further detail revisions and made the final sample. It took about half a year to complete a USN Cowichan sweater that was better than I had imagined. At first, I thought it would be easy, but it turned out to be an unexpectedly grand project.

Detail

The 100% wool yarn was dyed to the exact color required for this Cowichan.

The zipper is chosen from a series reproduced by YKK of Japan, the oldest zipper brand in America, UNIVERSAL. It is a brass zipper with a strong vintage feel.

Although the sleeves are a different color, they follow the original vintage design.

The other sleeve is knitted with the year that the vintage owner was supposed to have been a member of this destroyer. This fine knitting pattern is the most difficult part for the factory.

The knitting is tightly woven. The color also changes where the pattern and letters overlap, making the knitting process more complicated.

Special edition with Lightning and GIZEMO double name