Alpaca Silk V-Neck Cardigan - OEM

The Aosk Cardigan from Bellerose in heather grey, knitted from a premium blend of alpaca and silk, with a relaxed and slightly boxy silhouette, dropped shoulders, deep ribbed trims, a classic V-neckline and contrasting dark buttons, listed at 249 GBP with two of four sizes in stock. It is worth beginning by setting this beside another Bellerose knit published alongside it, because the comparison is the cleanest this run has had and the result is not what the two pages claim. Both are from the same brand, in the same batch, in the same fibre blend to the percentage point, in the same size range, and both are described as a relaxed, boxy silhouette with dropped shoulders. And the chest measurements are different at every size. At an extra small the two are four centimetres apart. At a large they are eight centimetres apart. So the same two words on the same brand in the same season describe garments that differ by eight centimetres at the chest. It is worth then looking at this garment's own chart, because it carries the same anomaly as the other one and a fresh one of its own. The chest runs 54, 59, 61 and 63, so the steps are five, two and two: the first step is two and a half times the ones after it, which is the same shape the other Bellerose knit has. And the total length runs 55, 58, 58 and 58, so the small, the medium and the large are all the same length. It is worth then turning to the ease, because it does something no other garment in this run has done. It rises before it falls. The reference is the Aosk Cardigan. Dongguan Bafinasa Garments Co., Ltd. develops comparable knitwear on OEM and ODM terms, from yarn and gauge development 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

• A chest four to eight centimetres wider than another Bellerose knit at the same sizes, under the same fit words. See the note below
• A chest grading at 5, 2 and 2 cm, so the extra small sits far below the rest of the range. See the note below
• An ease that rises from the extra small to the small and only then falls, which no other garment in this run has done. See the note below
• A total length frozen at 58 cm across the small, medium and large. See the note below
• A sleeve length frozen at 60 cm across all four sizes. See the note below
• The same fibre blend as another Bellerose knit to the percentage point, with no gauge, ply or yarn count. See the note below
• A V-neck and a front button closure as stated, with no neck depth and no button count or size. See the note below

Customisable Options

• Yarn: a 58% alpaca, 31% silk and 11% polyamide blend to the reference, with the yarn count and ply stated, or a wool and alpaca blend, or a mohair blend, or a merino and silk blend, or a cashmere blend, or a responsible alpaca, each quoted separately
• Gauge: a gauge to the reference sample, with the gauge in GG stated, or a finer gauge, or a chunkier gauge, or a hand knit gauge, each quoted separately
• Neck: a V-neck to the reference, with the neck depth and width stated, or a shallower V, or a deeper V, or a crew neck, or a shawl collar, each quoted separately
• Closure: a front button closure to the reference, with the button count, size and material stated, or a concealed placket, or a zip front, or an open front with no closure, each quoted separately
• Shoulder: dropped shoulders to the reference, with the shoulder width and the drop stated, or a set-in shoulder, or a raglan shoulder, each quoted separately
• Sizes: extra small to large to the reference, with the steps evened out and the length graded, or a graded range from XS to XL, or a graded range from S to L, each quoted separately
• Yarn count and ply, gauge in GG, neck depth and width, button count, size and material, shoulder width and drop, rib depth, cuff opening, hem circumference, sleeve and length grading, shrinkage and pilling figures, size set, colour development, private label and care labelling

Specifications

Size Chart as Published by the Reference

The chest figures are flat half measures taken with the cardigan laid down, doubling to 108, 118, 122 and 126 cm around, or 42.52 to 49.61 in. Against bodies of roughly 31 to 40 in, the ease runs about 11.5 in at an XS, rises to about 12.5 in at an S and then falls to about 11.0 in at an M and about 9.6 in at an L, so it goes up before it comes down. The chest steps 5, 2 and 2 cm, so the extra small sits well below the rest of the range. Another Bellerose knit published alongside this one, in the same fibre and the same size range, measures four centimetres narrower at an XS and eight centimetres narrower at an L, under the same fit words. The sleeve is 60 cm on every size and does not grade, and the total length is 58 cm on the small, medium and large alike.

Our Proposed Body Chart

Occasions and Styling

Suits everyday wear, layering and work through autumn and winter. A boxy alpaca blend cardigan works as a soft insulating layer over a tee or a shirt and with denim or a tailored trouser.

Production and Quality Control

The reference publishes three measurements for all four sizes, grades its chest, names its fibre blend to the percentage point, names its silhouette, its neckline, its closure, its sleeve length and type, its shoulder construction and its trims, gives a handle and a purpose, states its care, states the country of manufacture and names the style number, and carries six photographs. It gives no gauge, no yarn count, no ply, no cloth weight, no neck depth or width, no button count, size or material, no shoulder width or drop, no rib depth, no cuff opening, no hem circumference, no shrinkage or pilling figure, no size conversion, no model and no certification, and it freezes both its sleeve length and its total length. Three things follow: a fit word that means something different on two garments from the same brand, an ease that rises before it falls, and two frozen columns on a garment where neither of them should be frozen.

Four, and then eight, and that is the first thing, and it is worth saying how clean this comparison is. Another Bellerose knit is published alongside this one, from the same brand, in the same batch, in sizes from extra small to large. The fibre is the same to the percentage point: fifty eight alpaca, thirty one silk, eleven polyamide, on both. The fit words are the same: relaxed, boxy silhouette, with dropped shoulders, on both. And the chest measurements are different at every size. This cardigan measures fifty four at an extra small and the knit measures fifty, so they are four centimetres apart. At a large this one measures sixty three and the knit fifty five, so they are eight centimetres apart, which is about three inches around the body. It is worth being clear about what that does to the fit word, because this run has been circling the same point for its whole length and usually has to prove it across brands or across batches. This run has recorded relaxed on a top where the ease ran from five inches down to under one, so the word held at the small end and failed at the large. It has recorded oversized on three garments where the ease ranged from five inches to nineteen. But those were different brands and different garments, so a defender of the word could say the brands simply mean different things. Here there is no such defence. One brand, one season, one size range, two garments, the same two words, and a chest that differs by four centimetres at one end of the range and eight at the other. It is worth then asking which of the two is boxy, because the words do not say. This cardigan gives about eleven and a half inches of ease at an extra small and the knit gives about eight and a half, so by this run's own numbers the cardigan is the boxier of the two, and the page that says slightly boxy is the one with more room in it. It is worth adding the one thing that makes the comparison fairer than it looks, which is that the two garments are genuinely different shapes: one is a roll neck pullover and one is a V-neck cardigan, and a cardigan that opens at the front does need more room than a pullover. So some of the difference is real design. But not eight centimetres of it at the large, and nothing on either page tells a customer how much is design and how much is the brand simply cutting two blocks.

Five, two, two, and that is the second thing, and it is worth noting first that it is the same anomaly as the other Bellerose knit, which steps three, one and one. Both have a first step two and a half to three times the size of the steps after it. So on both of these the extra small sits well away from the range and the sizes above it cluster. It is worth then doing something this run has not had cause to do before, which is watch the ease go up before it comes down. The chest measures fifty four, fifty nine, sixty one and sixty three flat, so the body sees a hundred and eight, a hundred and eighteen, a hundred and twenty two and a hundred and twenty six centimetres around, or about forty two and a half, forty six and a half, forty eight and forty nine and a half inches. Against bodies of roughly thirty one, thirty four, thirty seven and forty inches, the ease runs about eleven and a half, twelve and a half, eleven and nine and a half. So it rises by nearly an inch from the extra small to the small, and only then starts to fall. It is worth saying why, because the arithmetic is short and it is the same relationship this run has been testing. The extra small to small step is five centimetres flat, which is ten centimetres around, which is nearly four inches, while the body only grows three. So the small is relatively looser than the extra small. After that the steps are two centimetres flat, which is about an inch and a half around against three inches of body, so the ease gives way. It is worth then checking the relationship against the whole range, because it holds. The chest grows nine centimetres flat over three steps, which is three centimetres a size, which is about two and a third inches around, against three inches needed. That is a shortfall of about two thirds of an inch a step, and over three steps about 1.9 inches given away. Measured end to end, the ease runs from about eleven and a half to about nine and a half, which is 1.9. It is worth adding the practical shape of this, which is the part a customer would notice. The extra small is the least roomy size relative to the body and the small is the most roomy. So somewhere between those two sizes the garment stops being loose and starts being looser, and then spends the rest of the range giving that back. It is worth saying finally that the loss never crosses zero here either, so by the standard this run settled two batches ago the fit survives. Nine and a half inches of ease on a large is a roomy cardigan. What does not survive is the consistency: a customer who tries a small and a large is trying two garments with three inches of difference in how they sit.

Fifty eight, three times, and that is the third thing, and it is worth setting the two frozen columns side by side because the run now has a rule to apply to them. The total length is fifty five, fifty eight, fifty eight and fifty eight, so the small, the medium and the large are all the same length. The sleeve is sixty on all four sizes, so the extra small and the large have the same arm. It is worth applying the distinction the run worked out two batches ago, which is that freezing is acceptable for a fixed construction detail and wrong for a body measurement. A length is a body measurement and an arm is a body measurement, so both of these are wrong, and this is the clearest case yet because both columns are frozen on the same garment. It is worth then noting what the two Bellerose knits agree and disagree on, because it settles a question the run raised last batch. Last batch this run concluded that these decisions are made garment by garment and not brand by brand, after one brand in a single batch froze a length on one dress and graded it perfectly on another. This batch complicates that rather than overturning it, because here the same brand in the same batch freezes the sleeve on both of its garments, at fifty five and at sixty. So the sleeve is a house decision and the length is not: one knit grades its length and this one freezes it. Some things are decided at the brand and some at the garment, and there is no way to tell from outside which is which. It is worth then closing on what is missing, and on knitwear the list has a name this run has only just learned to use. There is no gauge, no yarn count and no ply. This run has spent its whole length asking woven cloth for a weight in grams per square metre, and on knitwear the equivalent figure is the gauge, and no knit in this run has supplied one. So the fibre is given with real precision and there is still nothing to say how dense or how heavy the cloth is. It is worth adding the two smaller gaps and the label. The V-neck has no depth and no width, which on a cardigan is the measurement that decides what you wear underneath. The buttons are described as contrasting and dark, which says something about how they look, and there is no count and no size. And the care label says hand wash, and nothing else: no temperature and no drying method, on alpaca, which felts. Every bulk shipment gets a measurement report against your approved chart.

Optional upgrades include grading the sleeve and the length across the sizes and evening out the chest steps, publishing the neck depth and width, the button count, size and material, the shoulder width and the drop, the rib depth, the cuff opening and the hem circumference, quoting the yarn count, the ply and the gauge in GG, adding a temperature and a drying method to the label, wool and alpaca, mohair, merino and silk, cashmere and responsible alpaca blends, finer, chunkier and hand knit gauges, shallower and deeper V necks, crew necks and shawl collars, concealed placket, zip front and open fronts, set-in and raglan shoulders, XS to XL and S to L ranges, 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.