Loopwheeler is a Japanese sweatshirt brand founded in 1999 in Tokyo by Satoshi Suzuki — a man who spent 15 years in the textile and fashion industry and became so frustrated with the quality decline of mass-produced sweatshirts that he tracked down the near-extinct loopwheel machines responsible for the vintage sweatshirts he loved, and built an entire brand dedicated to preserving them. The word “loopwheeler” is Suzuki’s own coined term: he invented it in 1999 when naming his brand and it has since become the accepted English description for the machine. His philosophy: “STAY SMALL, SLOW WORKS.”
Key Facts
- Founded: 1999
- Founder/CEO: Satoshi Suzuki
- Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan (flagship in Sendagaya, designed by Masamichi Katayama/Wonderwall)
- Knitting: Wakayama, Japan (Kanekichi Industries); Sewing: Aomori, Japan
- Industry: Japanese Heritage Knitwear, Slow Fashion
History
In the 1990s, the Japanese textile industry was rapidly migrating to China. The approximately ten loopwheel factories in Wakayama prefecture shrank to just two by 1997. Suzuki, who loved these machines and the fabric they produced — soft, seamless, durable, with a texture unavailable from modern high-speed circular knitters — refused to let the tradition disappear. He founded Loopwheeler as a brand committed to using only tsuriami (loopwheel) fabric, sourced from the surviving Wakayama factories.
The machines run at 24 revolutions per minute — slow enough to track with the naked eye. Fabric is pulled down by gravity into a circular tray. At this speed, only one metre of fabric per hour can be produced, meaning 8–9 sweatshirts per day from a single machine. The machines are approximately 80 years old. Suzuki’s first decade was difficult — in the mid-2000s, Japanese denim brands were popular in Europe but “plain and basic, Made in Japan, quality clothing that lasts” wasn’t embraced. He flew to London three times to promote the brand before Selfridges picked it up. Since then, Loopwheeler has collaborated with Supreme, Nike, Margaret Howell, Beams, and others, maintaining cult status in Japanese and global fashion.
Products
Loopwheeler’s core product is the LW01 sweatshirt — the brand’s first and still best-selling model, a classic crewneck in heather grey. The range extends to hoodies, T-shirts, polo shirts, and sweatpants, all made exclusively from tsuriami fabric. The brand also produces accessories. Prices reflect the production reality: a basic crewneck costs around ¥15,000 (approximately £80–100). Sold through the Sendagaya flagship, Beams, and international stockists.
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