Seamless knitwear knitted in a single piece on Shima Seiki — no side seams, exceptional comfort and near zero-waste. Run in-house, OEM, under your label.
WHOLEGARMENT is Shima Seiki's seamless knitting technology: the whole garment — body, sleeves and all — is knitted as one continuous piece, with no panels to cut and no seams to sew. It's widely regarded as the pinnacle of knit construction, and we run it in-house.
New to the technique? Our explainer covers what WHOLEGARMENT is in plain terms. This page is about producing it with us — OEM, under your label.
Nothing to rub or chafe; a cleaner line and better drape. Ideal for soft luxury and next-to-skin wear.
Knit-to-shape in one piece means almost no offcuts and no linking waste — a genuine, explainable sustainability gain.
“Seamless / WHOLEGARMENT” is a recognised mark of quality that differentiates a collection on the rail.
The garment moves as one piece — superior comfort, shape retention and a refined finish.
On a conventional knit, the body and sleeves are knitted as flat panels, then linked or sewn together. WHOLEGARMENT is different: the Shima Seiki machine knits with four needle beds and multiple yarn carriers, building the body and both sleeves at the same time and joining them on the machine as it knits. The garment comes off finished — three-dimensional, shaped to the pattern, with no panels to cut and no seams to close.
That single-piece construction is what gives a seamless knit its hallmark: an uninterrupted surface, a clean armhole and shoulder, and a drape that follows the body rather than a sewn line. The shaping — waist, sleeve cap, neckline — is programmed into the knit itself, so consistency from sample to bulk is high. Programming a seamless style takes more engineering than a flat panel, which is exactly why running it in-house, rather than brokering it out, matters for quality and timeline.
Sweaters, fine-gauge layers, knit dresses and next-to-skin pieces — in merino, cashmere, cotton and blends, at gauges up to 14gg. Seamless construction suits clean, modern silhouettes and elevated basics especially well. For colourwork and heavily structured pieces, fully-fashioned may be the better route — we'll advise honestly per style.
Seamless construction rewards yarns with good elasticity and a clean hand. Merino and extra-fine merino are ideal for next-to-skin layers and base-weight knits; cashmere and luxury blends bring softness and drape to elevated pieces; cotton and cotton blends suit trans-seasonal styles. We knit seamless at gauges up to 14gg for fine, lightweight pieces, and at mid gauges for everyday weights — chunkier hand-feels are usually better served by fully-fashioned construction.
Yarn and gauge are decided together with your tech pack: we propose a construction that holds its shape, washes well and sits at the price point you're targeting. All yarns are supplier-sourced with OEKO-TEX / GOTS certification where specified, with full traceability — the same standard across our flat-knit and seamless production.
We confirm whether your style suits seamless construction and propose yarn and gauge — within 48h.
Your design programmed and knitted on Shima Seiki WHOLEGARMENT, refined to an approved pre-production sample.
Production in 45–60 days with in-house QC, then labelled and shipped worldwide under your brand.
Many factories quote WHOLEGARMENT but broker it elsewhere. We run Shima Seiki WHOLEGARMENT in-house — so the craft, quality and timeline are ours to control, founder-direct, at a 250 MOQ. It's a genuine, under-used advantage we put front and centre. Sampling is 10–14 days; bulk 45–60 days; pricing itemised on FOB or DDP.
WHOLEGARMENT is Shima Seiki's seamless knitting technology — the entire garment is knitted in one piece on the machine, with no side or shoulder seams to sew.
Yes — we operate Shima Seiki WHOLEGARMENT machines in-house, alongside Stoll flat-knit. It's a core capability, not brokered out.
It's a premium technique, but it eliminates linking labour and produces almost no cutting waste, which offsets some cost. Whether it's dearer than conventional knit depends on the style and yarn.
Sweaters, fine-gauge layers, dresses and next-to-skin pieces where a seamless, clean line and comfort matter most.
250 pieces per colour/size — the same minimum as our other flat-knit production.
Yarns with good elasticity and a clean hand — merino and extra-fine merino for next-to-skin layers, cashmere and luxury blends for elevated pieces, cotton blends for trans-seasonal styles. We propose the right yarn and gauge against your tech pack.
Sampling is typically 10–14 days and bulk production 45–60 days, depending on yarn availability, complexity and volume. We confirm a timeline with your quote.
It's near zero-waste, honestly framed: knitting to shape in one piece removes the cutting offcuts and linking waste of panelled construction. It's a real, explainable reduction at the source — not an offset.
Send a tech pack, a reference garment or a brief. We respond within one business day with a capacity check, indicative pricing and a sample timeline.
250 pieces per colour/size, the same minimum as our other flat-knit production.