Grace Ling Square Sweater

Square is a description of geometry, not of fit. A sweater drafted square is cut to a rectangle at the shoulder and at the hem rather than shaped to the curve between them, so nothing in the pattern is doing the work of making a silhouette. That leaves the cloth to do it, and the cloth is viscose. Viscose takes up moisture readily, so it is cool against the skin and stays that way. It will not hold a pressed line or a drawn angle for long. And it goes down: where a wool would stand the rectangle up and keep it standing, viscose states the square at the shoulder and surrenders the rest of it to gravity. The geometry is real, and it does not survive past the first minute of wearing, which is a livelier thing to put on than the drawing suggests. It is grey.

Grace Ling's sculptural pieces are the ones that get photographed, and this is the one you can put on in the morning. We wanted the wearable end of that argument.

Grace Ling is recognized for 3D-printed metal and for sculptural silhouettes arrived at through cut and pattern making, and this is the piece where the cut has to carry all of it on its own.

One hundred percent viscose, in grey. We do not hold a knit structure, a gauge, a country of origin, or a measurement for this sweater. Everything above is what viscose does and what a square is; none of it is an account of how this one was knitted, and we would rather say that than fill the space.

A square-cut knit is chosen on the shoulder and on the length rather than on the chest, because the body of it is not following a body. There is more cloth in a square than in a shaped knit and nothing in the pattern holding any of it in, so expect it to find its own length over a day of wearing rather than staying where it started. Past that we would be guessing. Call the store and someone will put it beside something of yours and tell you what is actually true of it.

Over a narrow leg, which is what a square top wants underneath it. Over the Tailored Wide Leg Trousers if you want volume against volume, which is a real position and not an accident.

The thing to know about a square knit is that its own weight is the problem. There is a great deal of cloth in it and no shaping anywhere to carry that, so it should live folded rather than on a hanger, and it should be dried flat on a towel with the whole of it supported. Wash it cool by hand if you wash it at all, and lift it out of the water in one piece instead of letting it hang from your hand, because viscose is at its weakest wet. Our care guidance covers the rest.

The Angular Ribbed Knit Cardigan is the same fiber built on a rib, where the edges do the shaping, and the Tailored Wide Leg Logo Tag Trousers is the wool trouser cut to carry volume above it. Everything we carry from Grace Ling is listed together.