A Designer’s Perspective on a Creative Era in Knitwear Design: British Fashion Knitwear 1970–1990

Abstract

The image of knitting has waxed and waned throughout its history across the UK, being historically associated with women’s domestic work. Nevertheless, hand knitting has demonstrated periods of great creativity and fashionability since the mid-nineteenth century. The twentieth century saw knitting move from the utility of wartime comforts for the troops, to high fashion in the 1920s and 1930s and again in the 1950s, but by the late 1960s hand-knitted clothes were seen as utilitarian and staid. However, from the early 1970s, a new wave of British designer/makers rediscovered the creative potential of knitting; traditional techniques were reinterpreted with color and pattern in a true renaissance of the art. This significant craft-led British design movement repositioned knitwear as fashion, and a new genre “designer knitwear” was born, named a “Knitwear Revolution” by fashion writer Suzy Menkes. This hand-made, textural, colorful, fun knitwear became highly popular “statement” fashion. This article makes an original contribution to fashion and knitwear history by examining this under-researched period, including through personal testimony of the author. It provides new insights into creative approaches to knitwear design and business practices exemplified by British designer fashion knitwear of the 1970s and 1980s and identifies the lasting influence of these small design-led businesses.