Cat Head Beanie

Last winter, I went to Sweden to meet Victor Fredback, who is also well-known from our collab project, Viktor's Voice.
He showed me a wartime USN Watch Cap, saying it is essential for the cold Swedish winters. I had always thought that this would be the perfect piece to do at TCB, but it never came to fruition as it wasn't something we could make.

Slightly on a different topic, we occasionally receive requests to make white jeans at TCB. While I thought it would be nice to have at least one model, it was difficult to make. The reason is that TCB's fabric is usually woven by factories that weave denim on old shuttle looms. Indigo is attractive because of its fading, but of course, when weaving, indigo dust flies around the machine and the blue stains on the machines, so the machines at the factories are all dedicated to indigo denim. It's the same reason why it's difficult to make a knit cap that fades in indigo.

However, this year, a hat factory we work with approached us and said, "We've built a hat loom specifically for indigo-dyed yarn. We'd love to create a knit cap that fades with TCB." And, we were able to release the Cat Head Beanie, based on the WW2 Watch Cap.

The name "Cat Head" is a perfect fit, and the tag is sewn with orange bar tacks as it befits a jeans factory. 

You can wear it folded in half for a big brim, or unfold it to cover your ears on cold days, making it a beanie that truly embodies TCB, a jeans factory.

Since TCB staff wear head-to-toe denim all year-round, it's easy to tell who's wearing what model. For me, it's the hat, for the factory manager, it's the beanie, and it's interesting to see how each of us expresses our style through the headgear, in addition to the fading of the denim. (Now, we have TCB-made Beret and Beanie. I hope we can make a TCB made hat one day...)

Just like denim, the color will fade, so we hope you enjoy pairing this beanie with jeans!