The sweater in this picture looks fairly unremarkable, right? Wrong. According to Benetton, the TV31100 (as it is known) is the design to fulfil all your sweater needs in winter, when getting dressed in the morning requires giving thought to the temperature outside.
Named after the postcode in Italy’s Treviso, where Benetton was founded, the TV31100 is 90% merino wool, 10% cashmere. At £69, it isn’t cheap but it is likely to last. It comes in a version for men and women in a choice of six colours, ranging from mustard yellow to can’t-go-wrong black like the one I am wearing above. It’s even waste-free, being produced without seams on machines in Benetton’s Treviso factory, with each sweater taking an hour to knit. Even those less fussed about sustainability will be pleased to hear that you can also stick it in a 30-degree wash. Convenience scores on most people’s idea of the perfect sweater.
Benetton has been around for more than 50 years and knitwear was central to its origins: the first Benetton clothes were knitted. A Benetton sweater – with that friendly knitting-stitch logo – became a must-have for slightly upscale teenagers everywhere in the 80s. The brand still has knitwear at its core but has since seen competition from other brands including Gap, John Smedley and Uniqlo, where another version of the perfect sweater exists for £24.90.
So does this Benetton’s version live up to its promise? The tag boasts that it is “designed to provide a perfect fit and absolute freedom of movement”. I would back that up after trying one for a day. The wool/cashmere combo makes it feel lovely to wear, with a T-shirt underneath or without. It’s very light and free of that overheating thing that proper wool does. I wore it in a men’s medium because I like my knitwear slouchy, but it would work just as well more fitted.
Of course, the perfect sweater is – if we’re honest – pretty unremarkable. It’s about as far away from statement knitwear as it is possible to be; instead it’s the kind of Zuckerberg-approved generic item that the Facebook founder might buy in bulk. And that, of course, may be part of its perfection. Real “look-at-me” items need a counterweight of boring to make them work, and this is an item of clothing that you’ll wear over and over again this winter, layered-up as the temperature drops, slung over shorter lengths when spring finally comes along. It’s useful, it fulfils its function and, even in the most boring way, that makes it pretty perfect.
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