The roll-neck sweater
09/2019
09/2021
New wool: to prevent shrinking in the wash, the old wool went through an electrical treatment known as "plasma," but this weakened it and could cause seams to tear, among other issues. We've switched to a wool with a more standard treatment known as "total easy care": Tollegno Harmony 4.0 wool.
02/2023
The collar has been loosened a touch more for extra comfort
Thicker sweater: we've switched to 2 twisted threads (vs. 1 in the previous generation) to make it warmer, more resistant to abrasion, and slower to develop holes at the elbows.
We now assemble the sweater's different panels with a sewing machine instead of a linking machine (where the stitches are knitted one by one with a wool thread). Sure, it's less artisanal, but experience has taught us it's far sturdier: with a sewn assembly, there's less risk of the seams giving way.
Wool keeps you warm because it traps nearly 80% of air in its fibers. For this piece, we use a fine merino wool: with a diameter of just 19.5 microns, you get a sweater that's soft as well as warm.
Our wool comes from Tollegno 1900, a well-known Italian spinning mill. We also use this same quality for our thick sweater.
A mid-weight sweater that keeps you warm: it weighs around 500g in a size M. It's thicker than our lightweight sweater, and thinner than our thick sweater.
The wool is treated so you can machine-wash it without felting. We'd still suggest using the wool cycle, or just airing it out now and then (wool doesn't really need washing).
This sweater is made in Portugal, at the Elmate factory we've been working with since 2018.
Worn, tested and approved by thousands of customers, this sweater is the result of several years of continuous improvement. We've refined it over time to reach a quality-ethics-price balance that we now consider just right. For example, we could use virgin wool (meaning wool that isn't treated to be machine-washable), but it would come at the expense of durability: in the past, we had plenty of sweaters returned all felted because they'd accidentally gone through the wash.
The techniques that ensure quality
Sewn assembly
Usually, "fully fashion" sweaters knitted in shaped panels (like ours) are joined by linking, a technique where the stitches are knitted back together one by one. We prefer assembling them with seams: in our experience, this stops the seams from splitting at the shoulders or underarms.
Sewn assembly
Total Easy Care treatment
Knitted as tightly as possible
Pre-washing
Total Easy Care treatment
With water, friction and heat, untreated wool shrinks and compacts (this is called "felting"). At the microscopic level, it happens because the scales on the fibre catch onto each other. To prevent this, a Total Easy Care treatment is applied, also known as Superwash or KROY-ERCOSETT. The idea: the scales on the fibre are oxidised, then a very fine resin is applied that forms a continuous film, which stops the fibres from catching and therefore keeps the wool from felting.
This treatment can be polluting if it's carried out in countries with low environmental standards. That's why we source ours from a factory based in Italy that's known for its high environmental standards (Oekotex 100 and 4S CHEM certification, more info here).
If you prefer wool sweaters made from virgin (i.e. untreated) wool and you don't mind hand-washing them, take a look at our lightweight sweater, our polo-collar sweater and our ribbed sweater.
Sewn assembly
Total Easy Care treatment
Knitted as tightly as possible
Pre-washing
Knitted as tightly as possible
The stitch is knitted as tightly as possible. This uses more yarn and therefore costs more, but it helps limit pilling and gives the sweater more structure.
Sewn assembly
Total Easy Care treatment
Knitted as tightly as possible
Pre-washing
Pre-washing
This sweater is pre-washed at the factory (before it's sewn, while it's still in flat panels).
Sewn assembly
Total Easy Care treatment
Knitted as tightly as possible
Pre-washing
Up to your neck
A turtleneck a bit thicker than average, which keeps you warm without itching – we use merino wool that's fine enough for that. The collar is designed to hold its shape without being too tight, the seams are sturdy, and the whole thing is machine washable.
In detail
Jersey stitch
A smooth knit that fends off snags and pilling.
Turtleneck
This area is knitted in 1x1 rib (one knit stitch, one purl stitch), a stitch that fits the shape of your neck without squeezing. You can easily adjust the height by playing with how far you fold it over.
Classic fit
The cut follows the body's line without clinging. And since wool is naturally stretchy, this sweater adapts to every body shape.
"Fully fashioned" knitting
The panels (back, front, sleeves and collar) are knitted directly to shape: it fits better, and it means no wool goes to waste.
How to wear it
A few ideas if you're stuck
Composition
100% wool
Origin and certifications
- Wool: Australia or South America depending on the production run
- Spinning and dyeing: Poland, Italy or Bulgaria depending on the production run
- Knitting, making-up and pre-washing: Portugal
... not wool from French sheep? Sadly, because it's less fine than wool from the southern hemisphere, and because the French supply chain has almost entirely disappeared. We explain it all in more detail on this page.
How this product will age
How do we know? We ask our customers what they think of the product one year after they've bought it. And if the product is less than a year old, we give you our predictions based on some spontaneous feedback and on our experience with similar products.
This sweater won't lose its shape at all, thanks to wool's natural stretch. There's very little chance it'll ever wear through at the elbows, thanks to how thick the fabric is (so far, only a small handful of people have reported a hole).
It might sometimes pill slightly in areas of friction, like along the sides... but nothing a fabric shaver can't fix (and the more pills you remove, the less likely they are to come back).
The biggest risk with this wool sweater is moths, if they move into your closet! So here's a little article to read here to keep them from showing up at your place.
Care instructions
Wool is fungicidal and bactericidal: it doesn't hold on to odours. So there's no need to wash the sweater. If it needs it, just air it out.
If you really must, your sweater is machine-washable: we gave it a "Total easy care" treatment to reduce felting and keep it from dropping three sizes. But use a wool cycle: it may still shrink a little on a standard 30° cycle. Use a special wool detergent if you can, as the enzymes in regular detergents can eat away at the wool. But no worries if you don't have any, there's no real risk in small doses. After three wash tests with regular and special wool detergents, we found no difference in softness or fragility on our sweaters.
No tumble dryer, to avoid shrinking it, but don't dry it on a hanger either: your damp sweater is heavy and could lose its shape under the weight of the water. For the longest life, the best way to dry it is flat, on a drying rack or a towel.
If a hole starts to form at the elbow (some people have rather pointy ones :), take it to a tailor right away to have it mended. It usually costs less than 10 euros. If it's too late, you can also try elbow patches. Same goes if a thread gets pulled: don't cut it, take it to a tailor to keep the damage in check.
Little pills showing up where the fabric rubs? It happens. We explain in this article how to de-pill your clothes effectively.
If the ends of your sweater get stretched out, we explain here how to fix this easily using nothing but your iron.
Environmental cost
This environmental cost is calculated using the official methodology of the French environmental labelling scheme (in force since 1 October 2025).
The label above shows the product's environmental cost according to the official methodology of the French environmental labelling scheme. It's what its manufacture "costs" nature when you look at its impact on climate change, ocean acidification, its toxicity to freshwater, and so on. Currently rolled out in the textile sector, this label should soon appear on many everyday consumer products (food, cosmetics, furniture, etc.) to help you shop in a more eco-responsible way.
The turtleneck sweater therefore has an environmental cost of 2425 impact points*.
For comparison, a garment of equivalent weight, 100% acrylic, made in Bangladesh and sold by a fast fashion brand, has an environmental cost of 2974 points*.
Why the difference? Here are the main reasons:
- The countries of production: manufacturing in Portugal or France takes less fossil fuel than in Bangladesh (one of the main producers of low-cost clothing). The result: this more local production limits the impacts on climate change, ocean acidification and resource depletion.
- The material: wool has a fairly significant environmental impact, mainly because sheep release methane as they digest, a powerful greenhouse gas. That's why the gap between our product's impact and that of fast fashion isn't very big. That said, unlike acrylic, wool has some major upsides: it's warm (thanks to its insulating properties), keeps its shape (the fibre is very elastic), breathable (it wicks away sweat) and odour-resistant (it stops bacteria from developing).
- Durability: fast fashion brands push you to buy by refreshing their collections at breakneck speed and offering a huge number of styles, and they discourage repairs by charging laughably low prices. This drives up the number of garments sold per person and cuts down the number of times a garment is worn. At Loom, we've taken the opposite path: we've chosen business practices that encourage our customers to keep their clothes as long as possible.
Even though we did everything we could to keep it as low as possible, this product's environmental impact isn't negligible. So before you buy, make your clothes last as long as you can.
*Calculations made by Loom on 31/08/2026. Click the links to view the simulations from the official Ecobalyse tool and get more details on the assumptions used. Note: the number of points isn't always exactly the same on Ecobalyse (whose method evolves regularly) as on the official environmental label (based on version 7.0 of Ecobalyse).
Reviews for this product
The standard practice is to send review request e-mails a few days after the purchase. We wait a month, the minimum time needed to form a well-informed opinion
Politique d'avis client
Quand demandez-vous des avis aux clients ?
On vous envoie une demande d’avis un mois après la réception de votre commande. On estime que c’est le minimum de temps nécessaire pour avoir porté et lavé un vêtement plusieurs fois et se faire vraiment un avis éclairé. Ensuite, tous vos avis sont publiés dans la semaine, qu’ils soient bons ou non.
Est-ce que vous demandez des avis sur 100% des produits commandés par les clients ?
On le faisait au début, puis on s’est rendus compte qu’on commençait à envoyer beaucoup trop d’emails à certaines personnes qui achètent régulièrement chez nous. Bref, on spammait un peu. En plus, ça commençait à nous prendre vraiment beaucoup trop de temps dans l’équipe de répondre aux avis - puisqu'on veut répondre individuellement en privé à presque chaque personne qui nous laisse un avis. Aujourd’hui, on ne demande plus d’avis sur les produits qui répondent aux deux critères suivants : 1/ Il y a suffisamment d’avis affichés sur le site pour que les personnes qui souhaitent acheter puissent se faire une opinion éclairée sur le produit 2/ Nous avons lu dans l’équipe Loom suffisamment d’avis pour comprendre comment faire évoluer le produit à la prochaine génération.
Minute papillon : qu’est-ce qui prouve qu’on ne modifie pas les avis en mettant des 5 étoiles partout ?
Honnêtement : rien, on vous donne juste notre parole. Comme pour le reste d’ailleurs : où on fabrique, d’où vient notre laine, la note de nos tests labos, etc. Les seules fois où on pourrait toucher à ce que vous écrivez, c’est si votre message contient des fautes d’orthographe (et encore y en a pas mal qui nous échappent) ou s’il est à caractère raciste, homophobe, etc (mais ça n’est jamais arrivé pour l’instant).
Demander un avis au bout d’un mois, ce n’est pas assez pour savoir si les vêtements sont vraiment durables, non ?
Vous avez raison, c’est pour ça qu'on vous envoie un autre e-mail de demande d'avis un an après votre achat – on demande même une photo pour voir comment votre vêtement a vieilli. Les réponses nous servent à améliorer nos vêtements et à donner des informations sur "comment ce produit va vieillir" dans nos pages produits. Pour ne pas solliciter inutilement nos clients et nos clientes, on ne demande pas ces avis sur 100% des produits commandés : dès que nous avons suffisamment de données pour comprendre les points d’amélioration, nous arrêtons demander les avis à un an.