Haut tricot wins the 2025 Good Design Award—a rare recognition for an apparel brand project

A challenge to change the structure of fashion. The "way of making clothes" itself of the custom-made knit brand is recognized as design

The custom knit brand Haut tricot has received a Good Design Award. Rather than being recognized for a single product or visual, we submitted our entry as an entire brand project, and the innovation of our business model and approach was highly evaluated.

It is extremely rare in Japan for an apparel brand to receive this award for a "project," and it has been recognized as a new endeavor in fashion.

What is Haut tricot's unique "unprecedented manufacturing system"?

For many years, the "make-to-stock model," predicated on mass production and mass consumption, has been the mainstream in the apparel industry. Most companies rely on a supply chain based on the division of labor, and it is common for it to take anywhere from six months to a year from the start of production to sales.

As a result, excess inventory occurs, and it is said that more than half of all new clothing supplied each year is discarded. While many in the industry are aware of these issues, the reality is that they remain unable to break free from existing structures and have not achieved any fundamental solutions.

Haut tricot questioned this structure and explored a new, sustainable system. As the answer, we built an in-house integrated production system using WHOLEGARMENT technology. (WHOLEGARMENT is a knitting machine technology known as a "3D printer for clothes" that can knit an entire garment without seams.)

While many brands introduce WHOLEGARMENT technology, most focus only on the "comfort of seamlessness" and fail to escape the flow of mass production.

However, Haut tricot has redefined its essence as "labor-saving and integrated production," incorporating WHOLEGARMENT technology as the core of our in-house integrated manufacturing.

As a result, we have drastically shortened the production lead time that used to take six months to a year to about one month. With a no-inventory system, we have realized waste-free, sustainable manufacturing.

We are building a new form of apparel brand for a new era that balances environmental consideration with optimal proposals for each individual customer.

The Brand's Origins — The Philosophy Behind It

Haut tricot was born after our founder witnessed the industry's ingrained structure of "mass production and mass waste" while working as an apparel sales clerk.

Unable to escape the constraints of the supply chain, the industry continues to repeat mass production and mass waste. To solve this structural issue, we searched for a new way for the system to exist. In the process, we encountered WHOLEGARMENT technology and realized a form of sustainable manufacturing that does not hold inventory.

"A challenge to change the structure of clothing production is highly evaluated"

We have received this award in recognition of the efforts described above. Below is the comment provided by the jury.

■ Jury Comment
＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿

"At the root of this is a questioning of how clothing is made as an industrial product, and it can be called a challenging project that proposes a new way of thinking from the manufacturing process to the entire supply chain. At the same time, it excels not only in the 'comfort of seamlessness,' but also by offering a rich variation of colors and styles, allowing customers to choose sizes and patterns based on 56 color options and approximately 20 styles, thereby balancing custom-made options with design. It has the potential to challenge the consumer behavior of choosing clothes itself." (Original text)

＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿

Haut tricot will continue to explore sustainable and enriched forms of fashion. We will keep asking through design what role fashion can play in society.