There's more to knitwear than too-long-arm jumpers knitted by nan, itchy long johns and school jumpers. A string of designers are taking up the knitting needles - or more likely the knitting machine - to create knitwear that's comfy and cool.
Side Slope
Soft V-necks splashed with hand-painted colour; cardigans hand-imprinted with complex patterns of blocks and stripes; jackets in layers of fine stripes; hand embellished scarves – all pieces in collections by Hiroki Wakisaka, who creates haute knitwear with street sensibility.
After designing knitwear for Japanese brands, Wakisaka moved to Milan to start Side Slope in 2005. Five years later the label named after an automotive test used to determine the lateral stability of a vehicle is lauded by websites such as Selectism and stocked in cult e-boutique Oki-Ni.
With prices starting at $342 for a scarf and rising to $650 for a cardigan Side Slope isn’t cheap, but whaddaya expect to pay to wear a piece of art?
Tom Scott
What better place to learn about knitwear than a textiles university in Edinburgh? New York-based designer Tom Scott, no stranger to cold winters, braved the chill of Scotland’s capital to do just that. After graduation he used the skills learned at Heriot Watt University – not to mention those he picked up from his grandmother, who was a lace maker, and from his father, who was a carpet weaver - and worked for Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren before casting a line out on his own.
His fall 2010 collection features an array of pieces that beg to be touched, snuggled and loved – an oversized organic wool coat, geometric cropped knits in purple, camel and red, reversible stripe mohair pullovers, frizzy wool v-necks and knits with tiny slashes all the way through.
Scott often works by draping knits on a model, deconstructing old jumpers and putting them together in new ways. It’s a method that results in amazing pieces, he says, only about 25 percent of the time – hooray for his mistakes.
Sibling
Sibling might design knitwear for men, but they’ve got one huge female fan in Susie Bubble. The super bright and cheery blogger loves their Breton knit with a twist in the form of a subtle skull running through the lines.
Sibling is a collaboration between Joe Bates, Sid Bryan and Cozette McCreery, who between them have worked for Giles Deacon, Bella Freud, the late Alexander McQueen, Jonathan Saunders and Lanvin. They take knitwear far beyond boring old V-necks, injecting a bit of English humour into scarves, jumpers, cardigans and even pants. This season that cheek has led to a series of ‘Scare Isle’ knits that work Frankenstein heads and skulls into complex fair isle-like patterns.
That’s just the beginning of Sibling’s lure for men and women. Guys who invest in one of Siblings knits, beware – of course your girl/guy/grandma will rifle through your wardrobe to steal a black crew neck with bright pink leopard print panel; all-over sequined knits; or a striped scarf emblazoned with dripping green “social zombie” letters.