For years, AG has been synonymous with premium denim. And now, it’s on a mission to carry that same reputation into knitwear.
On Thursday, the Los Angeles-based brand debuted its Jersey Knit line, a collection of T-shirts, tanks, Henleys, polos and lightweight sweatshirts for men and women featuring a luxuriously supple hand feel.
The collection’s defining quality is its lightweight, 100 percent cotton fabric that’s developed using a special twisted yarn.
During the production process, the S-twist yarn is spun counter-clockwise creating a right-hand twill, while the Z-twist yarn is spun clockwise creating a left-hand twill. The end product is a garment that’s significantly more resistant to shrinking, torqueing and wrinkling than traditionally knitted jersey.
AG reports that each garment is expected to shrink by just one-quarter of an inch over its lifetime, compared to the industry’s standard of one full inch.
According to Samuel Ku, AG’s president and creative director, the brand’s denim expertise was vital to its venture into knitwear.
“AG made its name in denim by owning its manufacturing process and developing it until we had a superior product to offer. In that same spirit, we created a knitwear facility in-house and obsessively set about to create the best knitwear in the industry,” he said. “The approach has proved successful in not only creating some fantastic fabrics and products, but also has the added benefit of transparency and control into the materials used, allowing the brand to ensure innovation, quality and sustainability in every detail.”
The 15-piece collection of airy fashion in muted color ways lends well to the summer season. Colors include vintage pink, silver gray, ivory dust, inkstone and slate sky, complemented by true black, deep navy, true white and hunter sage.
The range marks the second installment into AG’s Basic Essentials program and comes on the heels of a Ribbed Knit collection that launched in January in celebration of its 20th anniversary. The 20-piece collection featured tanks, T-shirts, turtlenecks, cardigans and dresses crafted from an innovative black knit material made of 96 percent Lyocell and 4 percent spandex.
The pandemic-inspired uptick in casual categories makes knitwear a natural next step for the denim brand. Last year, it debuted a seamless denim collection that bridged the gap between premium denim and comfort loungewear.
AG’s latest ventures also follow through on its dedication to more sustainable practices, with a vertical facility that utilizes best-in-class methods like ozone technology, laser finishing, solar energy and water recycling. Today, AG recycles over 100,000 gallons of water per day, and aims to recycle more than 50 million gallons per year moving forward.
AG’s Jersey Knit line is now available online and in stores, and retail prices range from $60-$118.