Scarves
Angel's Scarf
天使のマフラー$170In stock
UTO
One material, since 1994
When spring comes, the cashmere goat relinquishes of its own accord the down that carried it through the winter. UTO gathers it before it falls. Since 1994, we have worked with no fiber but cashmere. The first-grade raw down is spun into yarn by the same Japanese spinning mill we have entrusted it to for more than twenty years. At our own workshop in Kitakami, Iwate — a closed schoolhouse brought back to life — artisans knit each piece fully fashioned, without cutting, link it stitch by stitch by hand, and finish it by drying in open air. Body length and sleeve length to your own measurements, in twenty-five colors. The more it is worn, the more it is washed, the softer it becomes.
When spring comes, the cashmere goat relinquishes of its own accord the down that carried it through the winter. UTO gathers it before it falls. Since 1994, we have worked with no fiber but cashmere. The first-grade raw down is spun into yarn by the same Japanese spinning mill we have entrusted it to for more than twenty years. At our own workshop in Kitakami, Iwate — a closed schoolhouse brought back to life — artisans knit each piece fully fashioned, without cutting, link it stitch by stitch by hand, and finish it by drying in open air. Body length and sleeve length to your own measurements, in twenty-five colors. The more it is worn, the more it is washed, the softer it becomes.
02 — A Word from the President
Delivering hours of comfort and quiet happiness
To shield the skin from heat and cold and from all manner of harm, humankind invented clothing out of hides and bark.
As civilization advanced, such clothing became costume — a declaration of one's station in society, a mark of distinction from others — and how one appeared in the eyes of others grew into its governing concern.
Now, in an age when clothing has spread everywhere, I believe we have entered a new era in which what we wear matters less for how others see us than for the pleasure it gives us, worn for our own sake.
The garment that most surely feels good to the wearer is, without question, cashmere knitwear.
That lightness, that warmth — cashmere leaves those of us who wear it with a feeling of happiness.
The down that is its raw material was granted to the cashmere goat to guard it against bitter cold; and yet, come spring, that down loosens and falls away of its own accord. Before it is lost, human hands receive it and make of it knitwear and stoles. It is a splendid, sustainable cycle.
In truth, ever since I began working with cashmere — handling that down day after day — a question lingered in a corner of my mind: are we not mistreating these animals? To see the reality for myself, I travelled to Inner Mongolia in China, and the reassurance and the emotion I felt on confirming with my own eyes the mutual benefit shared by cashmere goat and herdsman have stayed with me ever since.
To raise cashmere goats and gather their down is renewable husbandry, in keeping with the laws of nature. This, we believe, is the most earth-friendly material of all, and the one we hold dearest.
We devote ourselves to that earth-friendly cashmere knitwear alone, making and selling it the year round.
Even among cashmere, a precious fibre to begin with, we use only the very highest grade of raw material; we work in fully-fashioned knitting, which leaves almost no material waste in production; and we make to custom order — a combination rare anywhere in the world.
It is a laborious method, one no other maker cares to imitate, but making things gently, with regard for the earth, is our pride.
This work is carried out by the young artisans — most of them in their thirties — at our own factory in Kitakami, Iwate.
For this careful making, one piece at a time, a great many customers tell us that with UTO they need never doubt.
We offer a feast of elegance that warms both body and heart.
It would be our pleasure if UTO cashmere brought you hours of that happiness which comes simply from feeling good.
宇土
Toshikazu Uto宇土 壽和President and Representative Director, UTO Co., Ltd.
03 — Sustainability
Thirty Years of Never Throwing Away
One hundred and eighty grams from a single goat
一頭から、百八十グラムThe fine down a cashmere goat stores to carry it through a severe winter falls away of its own accord when spring comes. The herders wait for that season and comb it out. From one animal, scarcely one hundred and eighty grams. Born of the earth, passed through human hands, and in time returned to nature — one full turn. A bounty this rare was not something we could bring ourselves to discard at any point along the way.
The yarn continues, unbroken
糸は、切れずに続いているCut cloth into a garment and the offcuts are inevitably thrown away. A UTO sweater — body, sleeves, collar — is knitted into its shape from the very start. Within a single piece the yarn remains connected throughout, and there is nowhere for it to be cut away. It asks for more labour and more time, yet nowhere in the process does a precious raw material become refuse.
The order comes before the knitting
編む前に、ご注文があるAt UTO there is no production destined for a shop floor. Only once an order has been received do we begin knitting that person's own piece. Rather than one garment among thousands arriving at your door, the workshop turns for the sake of a single piece. Unsold stock, markdowns, disposal — by design, none of them ever come into being.
Until yarns of differing lots become one piece
ロット違いの糸が、一枚になるまでYarn can only be bought by the kilogram, so knitting a sweater always leaves a remainder. Even in the same colour, a different lot cannot be used for the next piece. Far too fine to throw away, that yarn is joined by an artisan who weighs colour against quantity while imagining the finished result, then winds it anew into a single strand. From this came the “Many-Coloured Angel Stole.” No two share the same arrangement of colours.
A piece that has come home, given another life
帰ってきた一枚を、もう一度“I no longer wear it, but I simply cannot throw it away.” It was a message of this kind, from one of our customers, that began our upcycling of cashmere. To return the fibre to its raw state and spin it into yarn again requires more than two hundred garments, and there is no telling how many years that will take. Even so, it seems better that a place exist to hold such feelings in trust. And so we decided to wait.
When the knitters are gone, the craft goes with them
編む人がいなくなれば、技術も消えるOf all the garments in circulation in Japan today, barely two percent are made here. The more years a skill takes to master — linking among them — the more quietly it vanishes when no one takes it up. In a workshop in Kitakami, Iwate Prefecture, artisans in their twenties and thirties knit nothing but cashmere, the year round. That we handle everything ourselves, from design through manufacture to sale, is in part to keep their work and their lives beyond the reach of price competition.
04 — Timeline
The long way round became our specialty.
From travel agency to knitwear house. From Minami-Aoyama to Yamanashi, and onward to Iwate. Fifty years, gathered one upon another by UTO.
1970s“The Travel Trade Years”
"The Travel Trade Years"
Working in the travel trade, I devised and led tours that took people from the knitwear industry to London, Paris, Milan and elsewhere on research visits. Of fashion I knew nothing at all, and I owe a great debt to the Paris-based designer Junko Shimada. It was these tours that led me to join the knitwear maker Les Halles Co., Ltd. — an unlooked-for change of course. I became a knitter.
1980s“The Knitwear Years”
"The Knitwear Years"
I came upon the cashmere our own company was selling, and was captivated by its handle — light and soft. Beginning in Japan, I came to know production first-hand, visiting a great many mills in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and Europe. Calling on factories in England and Italy to commission work, I learned how differently East and West approach the making of things, in method and in mind.
From 1992“The bhf Years”
The Beginning of “The bhf Years”
Out of a wish to offer knitwear of real sensibility, knitwear that could serve as the foundation of high fashion, I founded the knitwear label bhf International in Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku. bhf stands for Base of High Fashion.
1994“The bhf Years”
A new knitwear label, House of White Cashmere, was launched as well, giving the company two labels. Cashmere — light, warm, soft, a material everyone knows and everyone longs for. Out of the conviction that "the age ahead belongs to the specialist; to be able to make anything is to be able to make nothing," this was a label devoted to a single material: cashmere. By holding to one material, we would become specialists, and aim to be the finest cashmere maker in Japan, and then in the world.
〈 The "Vision of the Company to Come" set down at that time 〉
"Making the finest cashmere knitwear in Japan and in the world." "Integrated production in our own mill, making things we can stand behind." "A production mill, atelier and head office housed in buildings full of dream, like the photograph below." "Sending out new fashion from a beautiful village amid the nature of Shinshu, overflowing with green and flowers." "Guest rooms and walking paths, so that many customers and shareholders may come to visit and stay (I should like to invite everyone to stay the night and hold an exhibition)." "The market is the world — selling not only at home but abroad." "Many shareholders — inviting shareholders widely; shareholders are the finest supporters of all." "Dividends as a celebration held overseas each year — a shared sense of play."
1996“The UTO Years”
The Beginning of “The UTO Years”
In knitwear, mass production is taken for granted. After striking out on my own, I was weighed down by large lots and unsold stock, and withdrew from Aoyama. Though I considered leaving the knitwear trade altogether, I carried on taking in knit design commissions from home.
2000“The UTO Years”
"If I am resigned to withdrawing in any case, I would rather make one more attempt with the cashmere I love — and if that fails, I will let it go." With that, the brand was recast as one devoted wholly to cashmere knitwear.
2001“The UTO Years”
With the cooperation of Uchida Knit and their hand-operated flat knitting machines, we began something without precedent in the industry: made-to-order knitwear (produced only upon commission) and custom order (adjustment of body and sleeve length), holding cashmere order gatherings at boutiques across the country. The experience of working with knitting mills in Europe and Asia was the origin of it all.
2005“The Yamanashi Mill Years”
The Beginning of “The Yamanashi Mill Years”
Acquired a knitting machine (Shima Seiki SES) and opened a factory in Yamanashi. A firm resolve — "to make things I can stand behind" — and a chance meeting with the man who would become its manager brought about the company's first factory of its own, a wish held for many years.
2006"The Yamanashi Factory Years"
Published "The Story of Knitwear and Cashmere" with Senken Shimbun. With the book came a rise in OEM offers from department stores and renowned overseas labels. Online sales began as a first venture into selling direct to customers.
2007"The Yamanashi Factory Years"
Joined a collaboration with the Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi main store on a project to "offer a sweater whose traceability, from the world's finest raw material through to its making, can be proven." Visited the cashmere herders of the Alashan Left Banner in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China, source of the world's highest grade of raw cashmere. Using 100% Chinese Alashan cashmere, garments were made to customers' order at the U.T.O. factory and delivered.
A visit to Alashan, a cashmere-producing region. Mr. Du, a cashmere herder, guided us through the combing of the fleece — the harvest — and spoke of how the people there live alongside their cashmere goats. "We do not mistreat the cashmere goats." With our own eyes, we confirmed the good relation between people and their herds.
2009"The Yamanashi Factory Years"
Turned the showroom in Minami-Aoyama, Tokyo, into a shop — the company's first store of its own. The wish behind it: "a place where you may take a garment in your hands and feel for yourself the touch that only cashmere has, and shop unhurried, in conversation with the maker."
Featured in the cashmere issue of the magazine "Mrs.", alongside Ballantyne of Britain and Cruciani and Agnona of Italy.
2011"The Iwate Factory Years"
The Beginning of "The Iwate Factory Years"
A shortage of linking artisans brought the closure of Yamanashi. The factory was moved to Tatekawame, Kitakami, in Iwate Prefecture.
2012"The Iwate Factory Years"
At the time of the move, the Tōhoku region remained in disarray, only half a year after the Great East Japan Earthquake. Newcomers though we were, we wondered what we might do as corporate citizens, and so launched the ready-to-wear label UTO kitakami. Out of the wish that it might "go some way toward the kerosene that carries people through Tōhoku's cold winters," we began donating 100 yen to the Kitakami city office for every UTO kitakami garment sold. At the same time we made and sold the "Angel's Bookmark," with another 100 yen given for each one sold.
2014"The Iwate Factory Years"
The factory was moved to Ezuriko in Kitakami. We also began taking part in the "hometown tax" program, through which we have since received some 200 million yen in donations each year.
2016"The Iwate Factory Years"
President Uto appeared as a commentator on the cashmere special on the TV program 'Nonstop' (Fuji TV). Afterwards, he was featured in hometown tax special programs on TV programs such as 'Shinichi Hatori Morning Show' (TV Asahi), 'Direct Hit Live Goody' (Fuji TV), and 'Gogosuma' (TBS).
2018"The Iwate Factory Years"
Received Corporate Value Certification from the Corporate Value Association, a general incorporated association supported by the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency. The recognition acknowledged the collaboration between Tokyo and Iwate in the integrated design, manufacture and sale of cashmere, together with the company's contribution in hometown tax donations to Kitakami, Iwate Prefecture.
2021"The Iwate Factory Years"
Donations to those affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake surpassed 3 million yen over ten years; hometown tax donations surpassed 1.5 billion yen over eight years.
2024 onward"The Iwate Mill Years"
The mill was moved to Kuroiwa, in the city of Kitakami. To strengthen production for a venture abroad, a closed schoolhouse was renovated and given new life.
As its first step abroad — and the first for any Japanese cashmere knitwear house — the atelier's work went on sale at Huntsman, the distinguished bespoke tailor of Savile Row, London.
Hidemi Tateshita, a craftsman of UTO, was honored by Iwate Prefecture as a "Meritorious Skilled Worker" under the national commendation system, in the trade of knitwear machine knitting.
