Roll up, roll up

Knights, tech moguls, winter Olympians, activists, soldiers, designers, fishermen, priests, anarchists, revolutionaries, intellectuals, artists, chain-smoking songwriters and Hollywood Hall of Fame-ers… All in the turtleneck gang. It’s a broad church, to say the least.

Sensual and subversive or austere and conformist? The turtleneck debate never ends.
For our part, we've decided to wipe the slate clean and concentrate on the essentials: your style requirements.

At the end of the day, it doesn't make much difference whether you're a jazz pianist, a literary demigod or just someone whose neck gets unusually chilly…You told us you wanted a beautiful, durable, well-cut turtleneck, topped by a collar that could roll up endlessly without being strangled. In a nutshell: an elegant, simple and effective jumper.

Leaving the squabbling to the fashion historians, we really wanted to make a turtleneck that was head and shoulders about the rest: a piece of knitwear that wouldn’t twist, with a sleek, tidy fit, and that was resistant to pilling. Of course, in this particular case, we had to ensure the collar did a stand-up job too.

To keep things on track we started with your answers to the co-creation questionnaire, then got down to work with a bit of neck oil and a lot of elbow grease. See the result for yourself.

You don't need us to tell you there's a world of difference between the big sailor’s roll-neck you wrap yourself in to weather a storm and the silky knit you slip on like a second skin. When we pored over the thousands of questionnaire answers, we realised that you were more into the latter, so we decided to go to town in the refinement department.

In the galaxy of knitting stitches, there's one that hasn't forgotten to be chic: the famous jersey knit. Imported from the Channel Island of the same name, it's supple, smooth and distinguished, resulting in flowing, delicate stitches. In short, it’s exactly the feel we were looking for, a beautiful, dense jersey knit that's smooth and neat, warm and soft.

Fixing on a knit is only part of the dream turtleneck recipe. You’ve got to pick the perfect material too. You can work with the best craftsmen and the best machines, but a polyester stitch is still a polyester stitch.

So we've kept things simple and given you the best: pure merino wool.

And when we say 'the best', we mean what we say. Naturally soft, breathable, thermo-regulating, anti-bacterial, crease-resistant and odourless, Merino’s quite simply the best-performing all-natural material in the world.

With 100% pure merino wool on the menu, your Turtleneck'll keep you warm when it's cold, it'll be breezy and breathable when it's warmer, and it’ll do a great job of keeping bacteria at bay (more so than cotton or synthetic materials). Dream knit. Dream wool. Dream jumper.

Most turtlenecks on the market don't have collars that’ll go the distance. We had an inkling, and your feedback confirmed it. We don't know if they're afraid of heights or have weak backs, but almost all roll-necks end up flat, sagging at the shoulders. That’s not a worry with ours.

Don’t just take our word for it, let us explain a little. We made our collar from a reassuringly tight 1x1 rib. Technically, it's an alternation of right and left stitches that give the wool a particularly impressive density and elasticity. What's more, we've secured the collar with a flat 'tubular' seam at the base, so you can execute headstands, forward rolls, whatever you fancy… without fear of your collar going to the dogs.

A close-fitting cut, two long sleeves, a high collar: could it be more understated than that? And yet, it’s as elegant as it gets, when you get it right. And we did, with exactingly selected materials, a sleek cut, solid details and intense colours that we dyed properly.

The magical aura of the turtleneck allows you to pair it with anything. It’ll elevate your old denims, accentuate your best suit, or pull together whatever’s not in the wash.

Under a coat, it adds verticality, shapes the face and works wonders with any collar.

Paired with a jacket, it tailors the body and balances the silhouette effortlessly.

Even the simplest outfit becomes something sophisticated when the Turtleneck’s in the mix.

Thought a layered look would steal the show? Wrong. Even when it graciously fades into the background, the turtleneck’s still there to catch the eye.

Even a monochrome line-up feels a little richer than a French monochrome with the Col Roulé in play.

Your other jumpers will have to get used to the idea: soon the most elegant of them might take its rightful place in your wardrobe. That’s right, the Turtleneck rolls up for preorders from Tuesday 5th of September. That gives you the weekend to think about which of these punchy colours does it for you: navy, camel, black, cream or forest green? We’ll leave that with you, we’ve done our part.

And as usual with our batch production system, the sooner you preorder yours, the sooner you’ll get it.

To make sure you don't miss out on the preorder, we'll shoot you an email on the day of the launch, provided you drop your email address right below.

If it doesn't work out fear not, returns and exchanges are easy and the cost of the return is on us.

Need to know anything else? Send in the comments below or check our international Instagram page for the answer. Possibly.

Thanks,

The Asphalte Team