Black Wool Cashmere Cropped Knit - OEM

The Sonza Knit from Bellerose in black, in a fine wool and cashmere blend with a relaxed fit, a cropped silhouette, elbow length sleeves, a ribbed crew neck, slanted shoulders and rolled edges, listed at 175 GBP with two of four sizes in stock. This is the second colourway of a garment this run published one batch ago, and that makes it worth treating differently from the others, because it is the first chance this run has had to test something it has been assuming all along. The black carries style number BW262902 K1674U-001 and the striped version carries BW262902 K1674S-STA, so they are one style in two colours, and the question is whether the numbers agree. They agree exactly. Pit to pit 53, 55, 58 and 59 centimetres. Sleeve 20, 21, 22 and 23. Length 50, 53, 56 and 59. Identical in every cell. That is a good result and it is worth saying why it matters: it means these measurements belong to the style rather than to whichever sample happened to be measured for a particular colourway, and that is not something a customer can take for granted. It also settles an argument this run left open last batch. On the striped version this run noted that the sleeve is called elbow length while measuring 20 to 23 centimetres, and was careful to say that the discrepancy might come from an unstated measurement origin rather than from a wrong word. Finding the identical numbers here tells us it is not a slip. Twenty to 23 centimetres is genuinely what this brand measures for this sleeve, and elbow length is genuinely what it calls it, and it has now published that pairing twice. The reference is the Sonza Knit in Black. Dongguan Bafinasa Garments Co., Ltd. develops comparable knitwear on OEM and ODM terms, from yarn sourcing by count and gauge to retail or FBA ready packing. We publish this as a development reference and build your own version of it, and we do not supply the branded original or reproduce anyone else's label.

Key Features

• Measurements identical to the striped colourway in every cell, so the chart belongs to the style rather than to one sample. See the note below
• A sleeve of 20 to 23 cm called elbow length, now published twice by this brand, so it is house practice rather than a slip. See the note below
• Lightweight gauge as stated, and gauge given as an adjective rather than a number. See the note below
• 70% wool and 30% cashmere as stated, with no wool type, no micron and no ply. See the note below
• Cropped silhouette as stated, at 50 cm at XS and 59 cm at L. See the note below
• Sleeve graduating 1 cm and length graduating 3 cm, both cleanly, while the bust steps 2, 3 and 1. See the note below
• Hand wash or dry clean as stated, with no temperature, no drying instruction and no pilling guidance. See the note below

Customisable Options

• Yarn: a wool and cashmere blend to the reference at 70 and 30, with the wool type and micron stated, or a merino wool, or a lambswool, or extra fine merino, or a wool and cotton blend, or a cashmere blend at a different ratio, each quoted separately
• Gauge: a lightweight gauge to the reference, with the gauge number stated, or a fine 14 gauge, or a mid 12 gauge, or a chunky 7 gauge, each quoted separately
• Sleeve: elbow length sleeves to the reference, with the sleeve measurement origin and length agreed, or a short sleeve, or a long sleeve, or a three quarter sleeve, each quoted separately
• Length: cropped silhouette to the reference, with the target length agreed at every size, or a regular length, or a longline, each quoted separately
• Neck: ribbed crew neck to the reference, with the neck depth and rib width stated, or a V neck, or a roll neck, or a boat neck, each quoted separately
• Shoulder: slanted shoulders to the reference, with the shoulder width stated, or a set in shoulder, or a raglan, or a drop shoulder, each quoted separately
• Colour: black to the reference, with the dye lot and fastness controlled across colourways, or navy, or a stripe, or a seasonal colour, each quoted separately
• Gauge number, yarn count and ply, wool type and micron, cashmere grade, grams per square metre, sleeve measurement origin, shoulder width, neck depth and rib width, roll depth, shrinkage and pilling test results, size set, colour development, private label and care labelling

Specifications

Size Chart as Published by the Reference

The pit to pit figures are flat half measures taken with the knit laid down, doubling to 106, 110, 116 and 118 cm around, or 41.73, 43.31, 45.67 and 46.46 in. The bust steps 2, 3 and 1 cm, which no uniform grade produces. The sleeve length runs 20 to 23 cm and the total length runs 50 to 59 cm. Every figure is identical to the striped colourway of the same style. No size conversion is published for XS to L.

Our Proposed Body Chart

Occasions and Styling

Suits autumn, winter and layering. A lightweight cropped knit in black works over a shirt or under a jacket, and the relaxed fit layers without bulk.

Production and Quality Control

The reference publishes three columns for all four sizes, holds those measurements across two colourways, gives a fibre composition with both percentages stated, states the fit, describes the neck, the shoulder, the sleeve, the edges and the finish, gives a care instruction that offers a choice rather than a prohibition and names the style and colour codes. It gives no gauge number, no yarn count, no ply, no wool type, no micron, no cashmere grade, no cloth weight, no shoulder width, no neck depth, no roll depth, no sleeve measurement origin, no shrinkage figure, no pilling guidance, no size conversion and no model, and one of its three columns does not grade. Three things follow: what the colourway pair proves, the sleeve that is now confirmed rather than suspected, and the gauge that is described twice and never numbered.

Fifty three, fifty five, fifty eight, fifty nine, and the same again, and that is the first thing, and it is worth marking because this run has not had a chance to check it before. The black version of this knit carries style BW262902 K1674U-001 and the striped version carries BW262902 K1674S-STA. One style, two colours. And the chart is identical in all twelve cells: pit to pit 53, 55, 58, 59, sleeve 20, 21, 22, 23, length 50, 53, 56, 59. Now, this run has been going through these pages assuming that a published measurement is a property of the garment, and it has never been able to test that. A chart could in principle be measured on a sample from one colourway and copied to the others, or updated for one and not for another, and a customer would have no way of knowing. Here the answer is that the numbers are stable across the colourways, and that is a genuine good result. It means the measurements belong to the style, which is what makes them usable at all. It is worth saying what this does and does not establish, because this run wants to be careful. It establishes that this brand, on this style, publishes one chart for both colours. It does not establish that the chart is right, and it does not establish that other brands do the same. But it does mean that the sleeve figure below is not an artefact, and that is the part that matters. It is worth adding one thing that is not identical between the two, because it is the sort of thing a chart cannot tell you. Stock differs: the striped version had all four sizes available and this one has two, XS and S. So the two colourways of one style, at the same price, in the same season, differ in what a customer can actually buy. This run has been recording stock levels throughout and has said repeatedly that a size greyed out is a garment unavailable at any price, and it is worth noting that this applies within a single style as well as between garments.

Twenty, and elbow length, and that is the second thing, and the colourway has changed what this run can say about it. On the striped version this run noted that the sleeve measures 20 to 23 centimetres while the bullet says elbow length sleeves, and it was careful, because a sleeve measurement has an origin and the page never states one. A sleeve taken from the centre back neck is longer than the same sleeve taken from the shoulder seam, and on a garment with slanted shoulders the gap can be several centimetres. So this run said the discrepancy might be a measurement convention rather than an error, and left it open. It can now be closed, at least partly. The identical numbers appear on the second colourway, published separately, alongside a description that is otherwise rewritten for the colour. So 20 to 23 centimetres is the house measurement for this sleeve, and elbow length is the house word for it, and the pairing has now been printed twice. It is not a typo. It is a convention, and it is an unstated one. And this run wants to be precise about why that is worse than a typo would be. If it were a typo, one number on one page would be wrong and could be corrected. As a convention, it means the brand measures its sleeves from somewhere and calls the result elbow length, and no reader can reconstruct where. Twenty centimetres is about eight inches. Whatever the origin, eight inches does not reach an elbow, and the same brand, in the batch before this one, published a sleeve it called short at 39 to 42 centimetres. So within one brand's output, short is roughly twice elbow. It is worth placing this alongside the other sleeves this run has now measured, because the collection is the point. A short puff sleeve at 28 to 31. A short puff sleeve at 39 to 42. An elbow length sleeve at 29. An elbow length sleeve at 20 to 23. The two words overlap and invert. This run said last batch that this is a failure of meaning rather than a failure of accuracy, and having now seen the same numbers twice from the same house, that is more clearly right: the remedy is not a better word, it is a stated origin. It is worth adding that the sleeve column itself is clean. It steps one, one and one. A column can be perfectly graded and still tell a reader nothing, if nobody says where the tape starts.

Lightweight gauge, and that is the third thing, and it is unchanged between the colourways, which makes it a house habit rather than an oversight on one page. The description opens with its lightweight gauge and the bullet says lightweight, and there is no number. Gauge is the needle count per inch on the machine that knitted the cloth, and it decides how a knit looks, how it drapes, how warm it is and what it costs to make. Two knits made from identical yarn at different gauges are different garments. No other number on a knitwear page carries as much information, and it costs nothing to publish, because the factory knows it. It is worth setting that beside what the page does give, which is not nothing. The panel says 70% wool and 30% cashmere, and a percentage on a cashmere blend is more than most pages in this run have offered, so the brand should be credited for it. But the rest of the yarn specification is absent. There is no wool type, so nobody knows whether this is merino or lambswool or something coarser. There is no micron count, which is how wool fineness is actually specified, and the description calls the wool fine, which is exactly the word a micron count exists to replace. There is no cashmere grade and no fibre length, and cashmere is graded precisely because the difference between grades is large and invisible to the eye. There is no yarn count and no ply, and no weight in grams per square metre on a garment described as lightweight. It is worth closing on the care label, because here the page does better than most and should be credited. Hand wash or dry clean only is the first instruction this run has met that offers a choice rather than a prohibition, and that is a real improvement on the dry clean only that appears on everything from silk to pure cotton. But there is no temperature, no detergent type, and no drying instruction, and this run has to repeat the point it made last batch because it matters on this fibre above all: a wet wool and cashmere knit hung up will stretch out of shape under its own weight, and the correct instruction is to dry it flat. The page does not say it, on the two fibres for which it matters most. And there is no pilling guidance on a cashmere blend, which is the fibre whose most common complaint is pilling. Every bulk shipment gets a measurement report against your approved chart.

Optional upgrades include publishing the gauge number, the yarn count, the ply and the weight in grams per square metre, naming the wool type and giving the micron count, giving the cashmere grade and fibre length, stating the sleeve measurement origin so the number can be checked against the word and compared between garments, grading the bust on a uniform grade, agreeing the target length at every size and naming it consistently, giving the shoulder width, the neck depth, the rib width and the roll depth, adding a temperature, a detergent type, a dry flat instruction, an ironing instruction and pilling and shrinkage test results to the care label, holding one graded pattern across every colourway with the chart confirmed per colour, a size conversion, a model height and fit guidance, merino, lambswool and extra fine merino, wool cotton blends, other cashmere ratios, fine, mid and chunky gauges, short, long and three quarter sleeves, V, roll and boat necks, set in, raglan and drop shoulders, ribbed and plain hems, size set, colour development, private label, hangtag and care labelling.

Pre-production sample approval, in-line inspection during cutting and sewing, and a final AQL inspection before packing, with measurement reports and photos shared before shipment.

Send us your tech pack, a photo or a reference garment and we will quote within 24 hours. Contact bafinasa@bafinasa.com or WhatsApp +86 13827222469.