Today I’m reviewing a sweater from Italic that I’ve been wearing on repeat for the past two months: the Boxy Cropped Cashmere Sweater. This is the first item I’ve tried from this brand.
Italic’s value proposition is that they manufacture their products in the same factories as luxury brands like Prada or Sandro, but without the luxury brand markups. Since it first began, Italic has changed its business model to one that’s based on membership. A membership to Italic costs $120 a year. A friend who’s a member kindly gifted me a membership during a promotion. To be honest, I don’t think I would have shelled out for it myself. UPDATE: As of 10/9/21, Italic is no longer members only. While there is a membership level called Italic Bold with perks, anyone can purchase from the site.
Of course I went straight to the sweater section because I’ve been trying to beef up that part of my wardrobe for the last couple of years.
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Boxy Cropped Cashmere Sweater – $70. This is what it looks like after two months of wear.
The Boxy Cropped Cashmere Sweater caught my eye because as a petite person, I gravitate towards anything called “cropped.” To me, that increases the chances that something won’t be too long on me. UPDATE: After Italic updated its website in fall 2021, it’s now called the Cashmere Boxy Crewneck Sweater
Style: Italic says this sweater was inspired by the ’90s. As a young GenXer, I attended high school in the ’90s and I don’t remember sweaters looking particularly like this. (But also, I can’t seem to remember if I even owned any sweaters back then.) In any case, it has a boxy and slightly cropped (but not too cropped) silhouette and ribbing on the cuffs, waist, and neckline. All in all, a pleasing design.
Fabric: Those of you who have been following my sweater quests over the years may recall that I have sensitive skin. I cannot deal with a lot of cashmere, which irritates me. Everlane cashmere? Generally feels too scratchy. Thus, I am happy to report that this 100% Mongolian cashmere Italic sweater doesn’t have that problem! I can actually wear it right against my skin (though I usually wear a tank top underneath).
Second, I love the weight of this sweater. Italic says the “weighty 7 gauge stitch makes for a substantial knit with added warmth.” To me, this sweater feels medium in thickness. I am not into light T-shirt weight sweaters and this is definitely not that. But it’s not a thick, chunky sweater either. It’s perfectly in between. And it’s nicely warm and soft and seems good quality to me, though I wouldn’t say it’s the highest quality ever.
Sizing: First off, I want to say how nice it is that there’s not only a size chart, but under “product detail,” there’s garment measurements for each size. Here’s a 5’9″ model wearing a size M.
And here’s 5’4″ me in two different sizes. I’m generally a S, sometimes an XS in most brands. I ordered the S (to the left) and M.
Wearing S and M
Both are not cropped on me in the sense that you can see my belly (thank goodness). They land around the top of my high rise jeans. The medium is longer by 3/4 of an inch. (Italic says the medium is 22″ long, but it’s more like 21.5″ according to my tape measure.) The sleeves on the M are much longer, but they both fit in the body. I decided to go with the M for a looser fit.
How it’s held up: Does it pill? Yes, some. Cashmere pills. That’s what it does. The area that seems to have developed the most pilling is the arms. Compared to the cashmere-wool blend stroopwafel sweater from Everlane that I own (seen in this post about sweaters from ethical brands), this Italic sweater pills more. But I don’t think the pilling is abnormal or cause for concern. Every once in a while, I do some de-pilling maintenance. No big deal.
Pilling report: Yes, it does. But not in a bad way. Black is hard to photograph, and this photo makes it look a little worse than it is in real life.
This sweater comes in 11 colors. I find the black kind of attracts lint and dust. So, it’s probably not a great color choice for those with furry friends.
I wear this sweater several times a week and since it’s a black sweater, it goes with everything.
Italic Sweater // Uniqlo Jeans // dr. Liza Shoes [review] // Baggu Purse [review]
Italic Sweater // Eileen Fisher Skirt // Eileen Fisher Shoes [similar]
Overall, I’m happy with this sweater and think it’s a great buy for $70. I would buy it in another color, though most of their other color offerings don’t quite appeal to me. I’m eyeing the saffron and wish it came in a dark brown.
But is it ethically and sustainably made?
Italic’s FAQ merely says, “Italic takes supplier policies and practices seriously. Only a fraction of the factories we speak to are able to sell on the platform.” It goes on to say that the company is preparing more information to share with customers about suppliers. That’s certainly not a resounding yes. It sounds like they might be trying to trace their supply chain, but don’t really have answers yet.
Italic does include a bit of info about the manufacturer. What we know about this one is that it’s been operating since 2002 and has ISO and GRS certifications. ISO stands for international standards, I take it? But the ISO website says they set the standards but don’t actually perform certifications, and that simply saying “ISO certified” is not enough. It should be more specific and say something like “ISO 14001” which would indicates which standards it adheres to.
GRS stands for Global Recycle Standard (GRS) certification, which sets requirements for third-party certification of recycled content, chain of custody, social as well as environmental practices, and chemical restrictions. So, it sounds like this factory is making an effort at using recycled content and reducing harmful environmental effects.
UPDATE 2/15/23 – I noticed sometime last year that Italic increased their prices significantly. This sweater is now called the Mila Cashmere Boxy Crop Sweater and retails for $150. While it’s not as good a deal before, it’s on par with Everlane pricing. And I have to say, this is the sweater I wear the most.
I made a purchase from Italic (the leather zip card case) quite some time ago, before they actually forced people to pay for memberships, and was pretty satisfied with it. They decreased the price on that item by $20 after starting to require paid memberships, so the membership price is definitely paying for something… But I definitely do not see myself ever buying a membership, at least not without a pretty long list of things I wanted to buy from them in mind.
Is that the same card case that they have now? I was eyeing it. I agree that it doesn’t make sense to buy a membership unless you have plans to buy many things. They do keep on expanding categories (I don’t remember them offering kitchenware or luggage before), so it could end up being good savings for some folks.