Yes, it’s still very hot outdoors in many parts of the United States. But my brain can’t help but look long-term and start thinking about comfortable tissues that make me feel like I’m wrapped up. That said, I’ve combined 3 brands of durable knitwear that will allow you to take a look at the style, while keeping you warm when you snuggle up with yourself (or anyone else).
Eleven and six
Launched in 2015, ELEVEN SIX is a knitted fashion logo designed in New York State and sustainably manufactured in Peru through local artisans using local materials. “The epiphany to start ONCE AND SIX occurred in April 2014, pregnant with my first holiday child in the sacred Andean valley of Peru,” says co-founder Catherine Carnevale. “ELEVEN SIX aims to offer an effortless but complicated mesh technique. As a mother, wife and entrepreneur, I believe for the fashionable woman who wants a flexible and enduring wardrobe adapted to a way of life of work and play.”
Carnevale, who filed the logo with her husband Nick, the company’s chief financial officer, tells me that mesh is her hobby and her training. “When I was a kid growing up in England, I learned to knit thanks to my mom and grandmother. Because of my love for this trade, I studied fashion textiles at Central Saint Martins and then mesh at the University of Brighton, five years of technical experience Mesh Training. Since moving to New York, he has designed for Calvin Klein, Anne Klein and Club Monaco. After delighting and honing my professional skills, I think it’s natural to create my own knitwear logo.
“Our love of travel and our eye for handcrafted, original and local influences are reflected in our work,” Carnevale tells me, where he is inspired for his creations. “I feel animated through art and have partnered with a number of artists to create 3 other collaborative sweaters. The way of life we lead can be my ultimate inspiration, especially now!”
ONCE SIX basically produces its collections with artisan workshops on the outskirts of Lima, Peru.
“These women (and some men who paint with knitting devices) are empowered to paint in a business environment and are committed to generating premium portions with classic handwoven and fabric-to-device textile techniques,” Carnevale explains.
The number of hours spent making the part makes ITEM of ELEVEN SIX an exclusive item. Carnevale continues: “For the homemade pieces we produce, the craftsman’s signature and exclusive edition number are included on the flying label to convey a handcrafted love to its new owner. We get long-term fiber from the country of Peru. collections of the bloodless season, we use the beautiful fiber alpaca, local of Peru. We use only natural, sustainable, ecological and moral yarns. In the spring collection, we use Peruvian pima cotton. »
In terms of sharing roles with her husband, Carnevale tells me that she is the artistic director of the logo and handles day-to-day operations. “Nick has reveled in fashion advertising and has bought men’s clothing for many years in the UK for Topman and in his early years in New York for Armani. Nick also co-founded Gasoline Alley Coffee and owns coffee retailers in New York. which has been its main purpose for the past 10 years. “The juggling is genuine with our two young men and our two businesses, but we managed to conquer and divide ourselves. However, there is an exciting new facet that Nick is involved in. ELEVEN SIX will launch our first direct-to-consumer men’s sweater on our online page this fall, which Nick will direct and develop artistically! “
Sustainability has been part of ONCE SIX’s DNA from the beginning (although it was not at the forefront of the minds of maximum consumers or logos in 2015) “We try to be sustainable in many facets of the logo, knowing where paintings go, seeing the benefits of paintings, and the expansion of craftsmanship and the circle of family paint workshops. We use fabrics and fibers in the production source to return the country and local industry and save you the shipment of yarns around the world. . We try to be sustainable and be attentive to all the movements we take on a basis,” Carnevale explains.
COVID has worn the logo even more when it comes to stretching resources. “Thanks to COVID, I recently created our maximum collection of duration to date: a nine-piece collection for the 21 pre-spring.” I ended up modeling it myself for the look ebook and e-commerce shots in order to sell assets for a zoom fashion week market. In this age we are now demanding situations to take sustainability to the next level!
I love the ELEVEN SIX aesthetic: the dresses are lovely and the sweaters are worth fainting and will be a must-have item in your wardrobe in the years to come. Don’t check the brand files for wonderful deals.
Kordal Studio
I arrived here through the logo, Kordal Studio, and without delay I fell in love with the cozy and sublime aesthetic of the logo. Founded through Mandy Kordal, the logo of the same name was founded in 2012 when Kordal sought to adopt a more moral technique for fashion design. “I would describe our logo as sustainable and eco-friendly clothing, designed with intent and made to be lived,” he tells me. “By employing herbal and recycled fabrics, generating with partners in the right industry, and honoring classic craftsmanship and culture, our goal is to create sustainable clothing that offers convenience and sincerity. Because we price our source chain and production process, all our garments have a In fact, a special tactile quality, from our comfortable and textured knit fabrics to our hand-woven fabrics, each piece has its own history.
Prior to the launch of his logo, Kordal worked as an artistic assistant for a New York-based pr-e-porter logo, where he had the opportunity to lead the progression of his knitwear collection. “I’ve been attracted to tights,” he says. “For me, there’s something very meditative about hand-based fabric and I love soft textured textiles. I learned a lot from this fun and when it came time to launch my own collection, I made the decision to harness my strengths, stay directed and create a logo completely made of mesh.
“As a self-funded company, I knew that creating a complete collection with multiple categories would be out of my budget, so I bought two hand knitting machines and, when designing and producing, my first prototypes in my apartment,” Kordal continues. “Then I discovered a small craft fabric industry in Bayside, Queens, that helped me produce my first orders and still produce styles for us today!” While Kordal Studio is only a fabric brand, the company has since diversified to use other textiles.
By connecting with other members of the sustainable design community, Kordal was able to build relationships with generators and craftsmen who shared his ethics. As those relationships evolved, so did the opportunity to expand your brand’s product offering. “A few years ago, we developed a recycled padded jacket with The New Denim Project, last season we worked with Greenmatters, a dry cleaner in Lancaster PA that naturally dyes fabrics with plants and food,” Kordal tells me enthusiastically. “I am encouraged by innovation and the likelihood of sustainable design, challenge solving and nature. I also enjoy exploring new places, visiting textile art exhibitions and going to dance shows to cheer me up.
Kordal uses textiles from top quality factories in Japan, Guatemala and Peru with the project to generate as locally as possible.
“By eliminating unnecessary shipments from the production process, we are reducing our carbon footprint, running to create jobs in local communities and building long-term relationships with suppliers and craftsmen,” Kordal says. “We use herbal fibers, which means they are vegetables or animals rather than synthetic ones, and we avoid competing chemicals and toxins. We also look for qualified textiles with leading criteria with social and environmental criteria, such as the Global Organic Textiles Standard (GOTS). By focusing on herbalism and ethics, we use renewable resources that do not contribute to environmental degradation or human damage. »
Kordal works with many artisans and suppliers of sustainable textiles. In Guatemala, the logo works with The New Denim Project, a textile manufacturer based in Guatemala City that engages in closed-cycle production practices, combining generation and ecology in textile production, for all its canvases, denim and padding. Modes.
“It’s beyond the season, we started running with Mayan Cottons for all our cut and sewn fabrics. Algodones Mayas was founded 26 years ago through Luisa’s parents with the aim of preserving Guatemalan culture, land, its colors and herbal patterns,” Kordal shares. . “In Peru, we obtain wool and alpaca from the Andes of Inca Tops. Certified through Pacomarca, the sustainable network of alpacas, they are one of the founding corporations of Patrol Ecol-gica (Eco Patrol), a non-profit organization committed to the environment. coverage in the village of Arequipa. We love running with alpaca because it is considered one of the most “green” animals on the planet for its effective eating and drinking behavior compared to other grazing animals “
“I think that if we have to continue living on this planet, it is imperative that the difference between being a ‘designer’ and being a ‘sustainable designer’ becomes a thing of the past,” Kordal tells me about how he defines sustainability. and how this philosophy is implemented in its logo. “For us, sustainability is an ongoing effort and a state of mind. We are looking for tactics to make it better, through the fabrics we use, the craftsmen and the painting workshops with which we paint, even the little tactics with which we move today. The logo also sends its products to consumers in 100 percent compostable bags from The Better Packaging Co.
Kordal has just opened the brand’s first physical store in Fort Greene, Brooklyn NY, where they organize a series of workshops and occasions and are co-hosts of a “Reflective Happy Hour” once a month with their neighboring neighbors, Rhodora (the first 0 New York waste restaurant!).
YanYan
Founded through years of training, her friends Phyllis Chan and Suzzie Chung, YanYan, which means “everyone” in Cantonese, was introduced in March 2019. Headquartered in Hong Kong, the knitwear logo offers spare portions that celebrate the main points of ancient Chinese design in a modern and elegant way. portable form. Weaving classic highlights such as cheongsam-inspired closures and hand-embroidered Chinese ties, the collection uses Italian yarn, Scottish lambskin and technical yarns spun in Japan that are proudly woven in China.
“We try to focus on novelty: a laugh and lovely clothes that make other people smile and feel special,” says Chan, who before co-creating YanYan went from being an intern to a Tricots control by rag and bone. “There are already many places where you can find iconic and charming period knitwear. We wanted to be a place to find anything new.”
Chung adds: “I would describe our logo as nostalgic, eclectic and emotional. We dress for ourselves, either for convenience or simply because we love it. We need to create designer-focused products that our consumers feel with emotion and confidence, and that will remain investment pieces for years to come. We also seek to design things that we really like from a point of view that is really ours.
Knitwear is not a common means of use in classic Chinese clothing. When I ask women what the concept of this decision was, Chan replies: “In fact, we sought to combine our skills, employ my mesh specialization and Suzzie’s passion for printing and graphics, and create something fun and special. In my delight in , knitwear can be a very fun and emotional buying investment: it’s a piece of your wardrobe that you can really love and support.”
“We found a lot of inspiration in our heritage, our years of training and our life in Hong Kong, from subway construction and design to classical festivals and folklore,” Chung tells me. “Before designing each season, we make a stop in the wholesale district of Sham Shui Po, where you will find many shops of fabric, roofs and handicrafts of family owned. It’s a treasure trove of new and old things, which adapts to our aesthetics. There is also a renewed interest in Hong Kong to explore the application of handicrafts and classical techniques in fashionable environments. It’s also very inspiring for us to make a stop at those department stores and exhibitions.”
Although Chan tells me that they never sought to be a sustainable brand, they embarked on this venture with some concepts to various processes, especially the waste of curtains.
Chan explains: “Being in Hong Kong, sharing a workplace with our factory, designing and generating in a tight production model, and controlling design and progression more successfully: all of those are tactics that have taken a step forward in our career life while generating better products and that is, of course, less wasteful. But above all, we seek to assume the huge excess of curtains in our factory. There were so many, and it would be an incredible waste to throw it away. To verify to minimize waste, the pair buys large threads that other brands order and do not use and that are left in factories, especially because the threads have an expiration and become nonwoven after a certain point.
Chung adds: “Sustainability from a human point of view is also vital for us. Clothing is an incredibly extensive procedure manually, and we appreciate all the hard paints that are required in our factory to expand and produce our creations. It is vital for us to get a fair wage and pictures in safe conditions. »
Best friends feel incredibly lucky to be able to paint together.
Chung shares: “It’s wonderful because we’re very aligned with our values, our vision, and our fondness for slow fashion, and it’s less difficult for us to make decisions and compromise differences when we still have the same goal. differ to the maximum are our non-public tastes. It’s attractive to find the balance between Phyllis’ most minimalist taste and my preference for color and printing. Chan believes this long-standing friendship adds confidence to ongoing dating and says, “It’s vital when they design and create together. There is a lot at stake for us, we have to be fair and sincere between us because our friendship and our business are at stake. »
As soon as I discovered the brand, I fell in love with YanYan’s quirky but vintage aesthetic, as well as its attractive use of textiles. When I saw they were making shorts, there was no turning back.
I’m a serial entrepreneur or a serial masochist, depending on how you need to see it. I bite more than I can chew and that’s how I like it. My life
I’m a serial entrepreneur or a serial masochist, depending on how you need to see it. I bite more than I can chew and that’s how I like it. My philosophy of life is to go big or go home. I appreciate the past looks in all your bureaucracy wherever I can locate it. I am underrated, I paint outside in my area of convenience and have solid reviews that can make other people unsirable. I am a woman with my feet on the ground who does not have an illustrious pedigree, yet I strived to achieve every thing I had and taught me to appreciate each and every luxuries I have the privilege of living. The American dream is still alive and kicking if you decide to paint hard enough for him.