Jenni Kayne Alpaca Cocoon Crewneck Review & First Impressions

I’m a little curious to know… did you end up buying anything from the Black Friday sales? You can take a little look back at what I purchased here. Perhaps the one piece I was most excited to see arrive, was this oversized knit; the Jenni Kayne Alpaca Cocoon Crewneck.

Wearing Jenni Kayne Alpaca Cocoon Crewneck (in size S); Bec & Bridge slip skirt (old but similar); Vaneli two tone pumps; Louis Vuitton neverfull; Linjer earrings

Given that I hadn’t really seen any reviews from shoppers based in Australia, it might be useful to put together a quick post chatting about the shopping experience, along with my initial thoughts on this knit.

shopping experience

I took the opportunity to make my purchase over Black Friday/Cyber Week; mostly as I really wanted to take advantage of the sale offer that they had. Plus, it’s been a pretty gloomy spring and start to summer. So I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have another knit in my closet. I made my purchase on 24 November, and it arrived reasonably quickly (given the holiday rush), landing on my doorstep on 6 December.

A couple things to note; there’s a limited list of countries which Jenni Kayne ships to internationally. You can find them listed here. Shipping is limited to certain items: clothing, shoes and soft furnishings. And all orders ship out using FedEx, with a flat rate fee of $30 USD per order. All pretty standard as a shopper from outside the US. Import duties aren’t included, so if you spend more than $1000 AUD, it’s likely you’ll be charged tax and duties upon the parcel’s arrival into Australia. I’d recommend checking import duties for your country if you live elsewhere.

The one thing that I didn’t pick up on was international returns. I read their regular returns policy, and assumed that this applied to international purchases too. Unfortunately, it doesn’t. All purchases shipped out of the US are considered FINAL so you need to shop with care, and be really certain before heading to checkout.

size + fit

A little bit on sizing. I wear a standard size AU8 or US4, and after reading through the sizing guide for this knit, I opted to go with a size S. Because I wanted to ensure an oversized, tunic-like fit, I almost nearly went up to a medium. I’m glad in this instance I didn’t, as the style seems to be engineered to fit exactly as I’d hoped – at least for my height (172cm or 5’8″).

The length falls below my bum and hip, making this an optimal knit to wear with leggings, or loose over jeans or a skirt like I’ve done here. It has a dropped shoulder, and the sleeves fall halfway down my hand. The collar is nice and easy to slip over your head – not tight at all, but also isn’t intentionally wide (so you shouldn’t be able to see tees layered underneath peeking through). You can also easily tuck this too, but I find with the length, it can feel like a bit too much volume around the waist and hips.

Perhaps it’s obvious here, but the fit is quite boxy. If you don’t like this sort of vibe, or aren’t after this look, I think the Everyday Sweater is more of a classic/traditional fit.

Overall size notes? Stay true to size, unless you’re shorter than 5’5″. Then I’d consider going down a size or two so that the length and lofty silhouette doesn’t drown your frame.

quality

The final thing I really wanted to touch on was the quality. So let’s talk about fabric composition. The Jenni Kayne Alpaca Cocoon Crewneck is made up of 70% baby alpaca, 23% polyamide, 7% merino wool. Now, I usually wouldn’t purchase a knit with such a high polyamide content (I’ve learnt my lesson with Sezane!), but I know not all knitwear is created equal. Plus I really fell in love with the silhouette, so thought I’d take a chance on it. As someone who owns a serious abundance of knitwear, I have to admit that I did notice in the hand feel – straight out of the box – that the knit was blended with a synthetic. Not enough for me to be displeased with my purchase, but I did want to note that there is a subtle synthetic quality to the touch.

The actual design of the knit itself is stunning. The collar is ever so slightly puffy. I think the dropped shoulders really add to the overall shape, and it drapes really nicely over the body – cocooning around the hips, but not in a way that feels unflattering.

And it’s soft. Very lofty and malleable in the hand, there’s zero stiffness. The weave of the yarn isn’t super tight, so it moves really nicely when worn. It’s not fully opaque, so the lines of a white tank worn underneath will be slightly visible through the yarn.

I’ve not owned it long enough to be able to judge the wear and tear. But given the polyamide content, it’s safe to say I’ll be taking this one to the dry cleaner when it needs it. Airing it out when it doesn’t.

final thoughts

Overall, I’m glad I decided to shell out for this knit. I was most thrilled to discover that the images on the website accurately depicted the fit. This isn’t always the case. As you may have picked up on by now, I love a good oversized fit. And a knit of this ilk which was tunic-like had been on my wishlist for some time. The tricky part was deciding whether to order it in the charcoal or the ivory. I went with the latter, as I felt I didn’t have anything too similar already tucked away in my closet, but am already thinking perhaps there’s a place for the charcoal one… too.

Disappointing as it is to learn that international orders can’t be returned, I tend to mull over my purchases for a considerable length of time before splurging. So usually I’m fairly sure by the time I reach checkout. Only occasionally will I ever buy something I feel the need to see in person to make a solid decision. That said, I’d love to see the brand adopt an international returns policy of some description; I’d personally be happy to front the cost of returning if that was an option.

All of this is to say that, I don’t think this will be my last purchase from the brand. On my wishlist currently, is the Cashmere Cocoon Cardigan, Rio Slip Dress, Cashmere Peacoat, Everyday Kate Sweater Dress, and the Summer Dress

Would love to know if you’ve shopped from the brand! What your experience was like, and do you have any particular recommendations? x