FACE UNCOVERED 001:
A conversation with Knitwear Lab, one of Europe’s Largest industrial hubs for knitwear innovation
Words: Cherish Brouwer
Imagery: Knitwear Lab, Cosmo Rush, AGR
A note from Knitwear Lab:
“It’s our responsibility to advise our clients on sustainable design, materials and production methods. We always aim to design the most beautiful and innovative knits in the most efficient way, while minimizing our ecological footprint. Our knitting technology allows us to knit designs entirely out of one piece, without producing waste. By reducing the number of components, we can shorten the production chain considerably and production on-demand becomes feasible. We use our extensive yarn knowledge to advise our clients on finding the most sustainable options within their requirements. Apart from offering advice, we also contribute to the development of yarns from recycled waste.”
Hi Cherish Brouwer (Co-Founder/Creative Director and Industrial Specialist) thank you for speaking with us. We are incredible excited to unveil the pieces we have been working on with you. We know Knitwear Lab are as passionate about transparency as we are, so we thought it would be a great to ask a few questions.
What are some key elements of your brand ethos?
Love for Knitwear – Research, Design, Development & Production – Education (KL course) Technological – Design-Driven – Innovative Knitwear - Sustainable mindset/vision - Craftmanship - High quality & durability - Future Forward Thinking
Dutch design and Turkish textile driven technology are a major focus for the lab can you expand a bit on this?
Our Founder Thijs Verhaar visit Turkey already for many decades and knows the industry well. Turkey has a big knitwear industry and delivers good craftmanship. For many years now we have built up a good relationship with our partners in Turkey. Especially we have been working closely together with one partner - a certificated Knitwear Factory. We have decided to join forces, combine our design-driven innovative way of thinking with the good craftmanship Turkey can offer and open our Knitwear Lab facility in Istanbul. Currently, we are renovating our new building, setting up our machine park and searching for new team members.
In a world filled with greenwashing how do you stay transparent with your community?
Together with our partners, we invest in fundamental research projects to create true innovation with knitwear. In our LAB we do all steps of the process in house, from research, design, development till production – so we keep good track of the process. We work closely together with yarn suppliers to get the most honest information about the materials we use. We feel it's our responsibility to share our knowledge and experience with
our customers on sustainable design, materials and production methods. Besides developing for our customers we also offer courses to educate the designers about industrial made knitwear, how and why to make certain choices on materials and knitwear design.
Last month we worked on our KNITWEAR LAB – Community platform – you can subscribe via our website - you can read our stories and receive newsletters. Within these stories, we share our opinions, experiences, knowledge and results with our community! Find more: Knitwear Lab – Innovative knitwear solutions
Sustainability seems to be at the core of what you do. From the use of ethical materials such as biodegradable textiles and yarns to recycled waste. Can you elaborate a little more on what sustainability looks like to you?
We always aim to design the most beautiful and innovative knits in the most efficient way, while minimizing our ecological footprint. Our knitting technology allows us to knit designs entirely out of one piece, without producing waste. By reducing the number of components, we can shorten the production chain considerably and production on-demand becomes
feasible. With our yarn knowledge and suppliers network, we are searching for the most sustainable options within our customer's requirements. While creating the product(s) we design to last a lifetime with durability in mind and if the product(s) can be easily discarded with a minimum impact on the environment at the end of the products’ life span.
“INNOVATIVE KNITWEAR SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE THE INDUSTRY STANDARDS
Industrial Knitwear is a design discipline that offers many sustainable benefits. Being a Lab dedicated to innovation in Knitwear makes us a sustainable company by nature. Throughout the years we have realized many boundary pushing circular initiatives from both starting designers and bigger brands. It is our aim to develop innovative knitwear that challenges the industry standards on design, technology and durability. With every project, we increase our knowledge on sustainable design techniques and production methods.”
AN [LEFT] EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW OF OUR SUMMER 21 SWEATER VEST MADE IN COLLABORATION WITH KNITWEAR LAB.
Design and innovation coexist in your work. How are you pushing innovation and design at knitwear Lab?
Our team exists of high skilled programmers with a background in design. The design-driven mindset and the technical know-how create the perfect combination of making true innovative knitwear. In our LAB we work with the latest software and ADF knitting machines of Stoll to create technical advanced knitwear. The various projects, collaborations and other exciting challenges keep the team enthusiastic and involved. Having a young talented team around us keeps us sharp and lets us think future-forward.
You’ve made waves through major collaborative work in both fashion and footwear, but also technical textile development. How important is collaboration in what you guys do?
In our LAB we love to do research, experiment and push the boundaries of knitwear to a higher level. We are always looking for new applications with knitwear within different industries. We aim to inspire the design industry with the endless (sustainable) possibilities knitwear has to offer. Besides our focus on apparel, we also see many benefits in the automotive industry, medical applications, body protection, smart textiles, architecture and other disciplines for which it is required to create complex shapes in a precise manner. Luckily many more designers finding interest in industrial made knitwear for their products and we are getting more and more requests from all over the world for research & development. Another important aspect is the exchange of knowledge with designers and companies – to combine our ideas, experience and expertise in creative innovative solutions.
What’s coming up next for Knitwear Lab in the next year or so?
Coming soon; Our Knitwear Lab Istanbul! Our own Knitwear Lab Products! Our new website will be launched with the Knitwear Lab – Community platform + Shop where the KL products will be on sale! And you can check out our first brand collaboration – KL X AGR!
For the long term of course as a company, we hope to grow with our team and LAB. We would love to extend our machine park with a more diverse range of gauges and hire more experienced and talented team members!
In closing can you give anyone who may be reading this words of
wisdom and advice about starting a business you’re passionate about.
Drive on your feeling and common sense, stay close to yourself, make clever decisions and do what makes you happy this will give you the energy to move forward. Surround yourself with a great team of talented, enthusiastic people who have all different qualities to enrich your business and complement your skills. Creating your own business will cost you effort and will ask for a hard-working mentality, so an important expect as well is to find joy and work healthily this will keep you motivated for a long time!