Collaborations are also a way to stand out. Tulkens regularly collaborates with heritage knitwear label John Smedley, customizing the brand’s polo shirts by pinning them with jewelry from London brand CC Steading to create an asymmetric silhouette. For John Smedley, it’s a mutually beneficial partnership. “Designers bring new ideas, different customer perspectives, and creative ambition,” says CEO Jess McGuire-Dudley. “We contribute manufacturing expertise, product engineering, and an understanding of how to translate those ideas into garments that are commercially viable while remaining true to the designer’s vision.”
By working with designers like Tulkens, John Smedley hopes to demonstrate that British knitwear manufacturing is involved in actively shaping the future of luxury knitwear. “For me, that’s exactly what modern British manufacturing should represent,” says McGuire-Dudley. “It’s not simply about producing garments, it’s about providing a creative platform where heritage craftsmanship and emerging design talent can push each other forward.”
Obstacles ahead
Though there is increased innovation in knitting and more access to updated and better technology, new obstacles have emerged. Italian yarn, the gold standard in the industry, has become more expensive in recent years, exacerbated by economic and geopolitical pressures that span the weak yen to Brexit. “The fact that we’re still using Italian yarns, people are like, ‘Whoa, good for you,’” says Tulkens. “And I’m like, yes I know — it’s actually a nightmare.”
Staffing shortages abound, too. Knight points to a shortage of skilled knitwear professionals, including programmers (“who must program each size separately”) and linkers (“who perform the specialized ‘sewing’ of knitwear”) as a major constraint. And for brands that use hand-knitters, an ageing workforce is a real concern. “Finding ways to pass these techniques on to the next generation has become one of our central concerns,” says Pillings’s Murakami. “I think more people need to know about the profession of being a hand-knitter, and it needs to become a career that people genuinely aspire to.” He hopes his work for Pillings will spark more interest in knitting as a viable career.
Then, there’s the weather. As knitwear traditionally lends itself better to fall and winter, the increasingly hot summers are putting designers under more pressure. “It’s a real challenge,” says Murakami. “As the summers get hotter every year, I feel that the very idea of ‘winter clothing’ is gradually changing.” Garments that once felt completely natural to make, like chunky knits, become increasingly difficult to justify.
At the same time, designers are finding more creative freedom in designing for the heat. “In the winter, your design aim is to keep people warm,” says Tulkens. “I call it the undercurrent of menace, because you have to navigate the winter in that way. Whereas, in the summer, I usually have more fun with choosing colors and fibers because it’s just one layer.”
Gushiken is betting on thin, gauzy knits to attract buyers for the 2027 summer season. Some have spaces under the armpits that provide extra ventilation and can be used as alternative arm holes to transform the silhouette. “I now find myself considering ideas and perspectives that I probably wouldn’t have explored in the past,” he says. “In that sense, the changing climate has also introduced new creative possibilities.”
