Nicholas Daley Wave Knitted Crew Neck

Merino is the fine end of sheep's wool, and fineness is measured by the diameter of the individual fibre. Below roughly twenty microns a wool stops registering as prickly against skin, which is the entire reason merino is worn next to the body and coarser wools are not. It also has natural crimp, a waviness along each fibre that makes it springy, elastic, and inclined to return to shape, and it manages moisture better than any synthetic yet devised.

The wave pattern here is knitted into the structure of the garment rather than printed onto its surface, which is a slower and more expensive way to make a pattern and a considerably better one. A knitted-in pattern cannot fade, cannot crack, and moves with the fabric rather than sitting on top of it, so the wave distorts and recovers as the sweater does. In navy against ecru the contrast is high enough to read clearly from a distance and calm enough to wear all day. The body is boxy, which is the right shape for it: a fitted sweater would bend the pattern around the body and lose it.

We took this because a knitted-in pattern is unusual and because the wave is the best graphic Daley has put into a knit. The merino is the third reason. A knitted-in pattern wants a springy yarn, one that comes back to shape rather than holding every stretch it is given, and high-crimp merino is exactly that.

Nicholas Daley's knitwear is where his graphic work is built into the structure of a garment rather than applied to it.

One hundred percent merino wool, made in Portugal. Knitted wave pattern, boxy body, crew neck. Colours: navy and ecru.

Boxy through the body and drafted to sit away from it rather than to follow it, which is what the pattern needs. Merino has natural crimp and real elasticity, so it relaxes across a day of wearing and recovers when it rests. It layers over a shirt comfortably and will go under an unstructured jacket, though a close-cut one will crowd it.

Over the Classic Two Pocket Shirt in black with the Pleated Trouser in black. With the Wave Scarf, which is the matching piece. Navy and ecru is a neutral pairing and will go with anything plain.

Merino wants less washing than you think and no hanging at all. Fold it, air it between wearings, and hand wash only when it genuinely needs it, in cool water with a wool detergent, then dry it flat and reshape it while damp. Hanging is what ruins a knit of this weight. Our fabric care guidance covers the rest.

The Wave Scarf carries the same wave in the same merino and the same colours. The Waffle Roll Neck in chocolate is the heavier knit, and the Fonte Jacket the jacket over it. Everything we carry from Nicholas Daley is listed together.