Week 3 Knitwear

Knitwear week was a huge challenge for me as I found it very technical (something that I struggle with) and not very creative (something which comes naturally to me). I have knitted with needles before, but this way of knitting using a machine was very different (but quicker) and took a while to get the hang of. After I did it was very rewarding producing my little samples. I have always been a big fan of knitwear as not only is so soft, warm and cozy but is also incredibly versatile and always in fashion. It can be used of everything from clothes to accessorise and when you knit you are creating your own textiles therefore you are completely in control of the tightness, colour, texture and design.

These are some of the samples a produced. I don't think they are that great but this was my first attempt at  using knitting machine and they will improve with practice.

To be honest, I really wasn't enjoying it at the start of the week but on Tuesday evening I went to a talk at Somerset House given by Garage Magazine about an innovative luxury knitwear brand called Leutton Postle, founded by two St. Martins Graduates, Sam Leutton and Jenny Postle, which really sparked my imagination and enthusiasm for knitwear. They complimentary grapefruit Margaritas were also delicious!

The talk was about a small collection of jumpers that that they designed for spread in Garage Magazine, which is famous for being offbeat, quirky and innovative. The shoot was entitled Vestimentality project and featured a collection of 5 jumpers each emblazoned with a cynical quote about the fashion industry by the controversial and infamous New York based fashion journalist, Cintra Wilson. Each piece was full of unusual, textures, vivid, clashing colours and prints, with extremely inventively knitted typography. This really showed me how incredibly versatile knitwear is.  My personal favourite was a chunky, jumper emblazoned with the slogan '£4600 dollars and your too old', which I thought was such a witty comment as a lot of high-fashion clothes are designed for (and always modelled by) young women, but appeal to older women, as younger women often can't afford them. Each quote was a direct jab at particular fashion brand, which I thought was a very brave and risky move, which I admired very much.  

It was also very interesting to hear about the styling concept behind the photoshoot. They explained that they chose a very androgynous female model, dressed her in a simple pair of baggy blue jeans, chose a green space as the location and used basic mid-shots in order to let the bold jumpers speak for themselves. 

Some girls in the crowd the crowd who were friends of the company and event organisers were modelling the jumpers and I managed to get a few quick snaps.