Our story begins in a 3rd-grade classroom, where we bonded over our inability to write cursive and spell the word "giraffe". Over 20 years later, we're still not great at cursive, but we have fulfilled our lifelong dream of starting a company together.
Timeless and versatile. Mix and match with everything in your closet. Wear your OC sweater for work, lazy Sundays, on date nights, or even in the backcountry.
My name is Tobias. I'm the CMO at Oliver Charles (@Khullu_Sweater), and my main... well only responsibility is writing our newsletter, The New Yak Times. Before I get into why I joined Oliver Charles, I'd like to take a moment to introduce myself...
We’re a new clothing brand creating an easy go-to item for modern professionals. We’re also Slater & Jack... a couple of lifelong friends on a mission to get the world to rethink their wardrobe.
OCT, 2019 Discovered khullu fiber.
DEC, 2019 1st samples of khullu.
MAR, 2020 Designing our sweater.
APR, 2020 Met 3D-knitting partner.
JUN, 2020 Determined knit type.
JUL, 2020 First prototype arrived.
AUG, 2020 1st 50 sweaters knit/sent.
SEP, 2020 Launch on Indiegogo!
OCT, 2020 New color!
NOV, 2020 1st production complete.
DEC, 2020 1st batch delivered!
JAN, 2021 2nd production begins.
FEB, 2021 Sent out 70% ofpre-orders.
MAR, 2021 Sent out 100% of orders.
APR, 2021 Mother's Day new color.
MAY, 2021 Limited edition design.
JUN, 2021 New yarn color arrived!
JUL, 2021 Jewel of The Sierras launch.
AUG, 2021 Summer adventures.
SEP, 2021 Prepping for 1st pop-up!
OCT, 2021 Launch dark red color!
NOV, 2021 Launch 1st v-neck sweater.
DEC, 2021 Holiday Sweater Pop-up!
Our goal is to change the way we currently think about the clothes we buy. We strongly believe that the future of style is buying less and, crucially, buying better. As a brand, we want to keep in our lane and create the best sweaters out there.
When people talk about sweaters, our hope is that we’ll be the first brand mentioned. In 10 years, if we have our way, our sweaters will be the go-to item for a modern professionals everywhere.
We are offering free shipping within the USA. Outside the USA, depending on your country, you will be responsible for paying for customs, duties, taxes, or other applicable fees before you can receive your package.
These policies are set locally, so please check with the relevant sources where you live for the most accurate information. If the customs/duties are not paid and the shipment is returned to us, you will be refunded, minus the shipping cost.
Returns & Exchanges
Our return and exchange policy lasts 30 days. To be eligible for a return, your item must be undamaged and in the same condition that you received it. Returns aren't accepted after taking the 1-Week Challenge.
Pre-ordered items cannot be refunded because we use these funds to bring the product to life for the first time. This is the tradeoff of a discounted price.
We believe sweaters are the most versatile piece of your closet that lets you quickly and elegantly shift between work and life, which is increasingly important as we blur the lines between the two.
We work with the soft underbelly fibers that insulate high elevation Tibetan yak in cold -40° F winters. This fiber is called khullu ("coo-loo"), and it’s some of the best natural fiber money can buy.
Not only is khullu warmer and more breathable than lambswool and cashmere, but the fiber is also world-renowned for its antimicrobial properties, meaning it doesn't trap odor like cotton and synthetic materials.
We pair khullu with merino wool, the Swiss Army Knife of the natural fiber world. Merino wool is world-famous for its excellent insulating, sweat-wicking, and odor-resisting properties.
Merino wool can absorb 30% of its weight in water and remain dry to touch. Merino can also be bent and flexed 30,000 times before it's damaged. Merino is a durable fiber that protects against the sun's rays, resists wrinkles and pilling, insulates body heat when it's cold, and transports sweat away in the heat.
Khullu is a cashmere alternative that is growing in popularity due to the breathability and antimicrobial properties of the wool, the lightweight, warm sweater material it can be knit into, and its soft hand feel. Khullu is not only the world's best wool, but when paired with merino, the two super-fibers are ideal for daily wear and make for amazing travel clothes.
One of the most important factors that affects the way wool feels is the fiber fineness. Thinner diameter fiber is softer. While a human hair has a average diameter of 75 microns (µm), the merino and yak wool (AKA "khullu") we use in our sweaters is ultra-fine at 17.5µm.
Wools that are generally considered "soft" have a fineness <20µm. Although, at the end of the day, you know best, so try new materials at different levels of fineness and decide what you like wearing most. If you find a wool sweater you love but find slightly itchy, note that fine wools, like merino and khullu, get softer with washing.
Wicking is an important benefit of wool, because in order to regulate body temperature, humans can sweat several liters a day. All this sweat can get pretty smelly right? In fact, sweat only becomes odor if it isn't wicked away. Wool has a number of unique moisture management properties that allow it to resist body odor making it ideal for #repeat wear and simplifying your life.
1) Saturation regain: wool can absorb and retain up to 35% of its own weight in moisture and still feel dry to the touch, which reduces sweat buildup and discourages bacterial growth.
2) Isolation of bacteria: after sweat is absorbed from the skin's surface it travels outwards where it evaporates. In the process, wool actively binds and isolates bacteria within it's fiber. The isolation of bacteria reduces odor to the point where unwashed wool has 66% less odor intensity than plastic-based fibers and 28% less than cotton fabrics (Woolmark).
Fun fact: bacteria thrive in humid environments, where sweat is trapped instead of being wicked away. For example, while a 1x1cm area on a human forearm contains around 100 bacteria, an identical square in the armpit contains on average 10 million bacteria (Popular Science).
We make our sweaters from yak down, which is the hair they shed naturally in the spring, all the herders do to collect it is simply brush the animals. Merino sheep on the other hand are unable to shed their coat so it is sheared.
3D-knitting machines create completely seamless garments that are made as one continuous knit, and don't require either cutting or sewing.
Removing cutting eliminates wasted fabric. Removing sewing eliminates error, bulk, and even the need for inventory.
Why Go Seamless? When you wear a 3D-knit garment like our crew neck sweater, you’ll notice it feels light and shapes to the natural contours of your body. The drape of the soft khullu and merino sweater will only be enhanced by our choice of links-links knit, which improves elasticity and range of motion.
Are 3D-Knits More Durable? One of the main benefits of 3D-knitting is seamlessness. As 1 whole garment, produced as 1 continuous knit, there are few, if any, points where a seam unravels, snags, or rips.
Unlike 3D-knitting, both the cutting and the sewing process is prone to error; the most common are:
Inconsistent cuts due to shifting fabric layers or blade velocity.
Raw edges aren’t properly hemmed and unravel.
Imprecise sewing causes pinching and/or seam separation.
How Sustainable is 3D-Knitting? 3D-knitting requires less raw material, produces less waste, and opens the door to an inventory-less future. 3D-knitting plays an important sustainability role because 35% (36 billion lbs) of material in the global supply chain ends up as waste. The numbers speak for themselves. According to Tailored Industry, one of the leading 3D-knitting manufacturers in the United States, their 3D knitting approach reduces CO2 emissions by 50%. It also reduces their electrical usage by 43% and their material waste by 93%.
Our sweaters are made in Brooklyn, New York by Tailored Industry. We work with them to create our sweaters through a new manufacturing process called WHOLEGARMENT® 3D-knitting.
We chose Tailored Industry vs. other WHOLEGARMENT® manufacturers in part because of their brand vision. They want to become a platform for on-demand knitwear. We're hoping we can grow together, create all kinds of custom sizes, and eventually remove the need for inventory completely.
Pilling is the natural process that occurs when the shorter natural wool fibers work their way to the surface of a sweater.
Pilling is normal and expected with any wool piece of clothing, but fear not because there is a tried and true method to manage pilling.
The first thing you should do is wash your sweater after the first 4 wears. Throw your sweater in the wash with a pair of jeans, just make sure to close the zippers.
Over time, shorter fibers causing pilling will pull away on their own.
Yes! Machine wash at a normal or cool temperature. Don't tumble dry. Instead, lay flat to dry out of direct sunlight. Avoid fabric softener or products with bleach.
Our sweaters are a timeless design meant last in your closet. If your Oliver Charles sweater becomes damaged from holes, snagged threads, or pilling at any time, send it back and we'll restore it to the best of our abilities.
If you feel your sweater needs a repair, please fill out the form below. Please note that you must be the original purchaser of the product with a valid proof of purchase (order number).
When you decide your sweater has reached the end of its life - whether that’s in 10 years’ time or 100 years - please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We'll make sure to find it another home or make sure it is naturally returned to the earth. As each sweater is biodegradable, although designed to last a lifetime.
Finding styles you love, upgrading them to last for life, and then repeating is our simple formula. Repeating styles, AKA your "personal uniform", opens up more time for creativity, productivity, and recharging... also it's great for the planet.
The clothes we wear have an impact on how we feel throughout the day. Researchers at Northwestern University in 2012 coined this concept as “enclothed cognition”.
Think about it. I bet you have a favorite sweatshirt or pair of pants that make you feel confident, makes you feel like you. It’s clothing that you wish you could wear all the time.
There's only so much we can do alone, and we quickly realized that the clothes/styles/things that make us feel good are deeply personal.
We're creating a sweater meant to be central to a personal uniform and last for life. We had to make sure we were creating something people really wanted to not only wear, but wear all the time, which is why our sweaters are co-created with our community.
