Circular knitting has always been associated with T-shirts or sportswear; it is only recently that knits as a fabric is being increasingly used by designers and PD teams for wider product category and application. Both the international and domestic runways had many interesting takes on the traditional knitted fabric at the recent fashion weeks. The increasing use of spandex has also fed the trend, with knitted fabric being seen as body hugging, suitable for ‘sexy’ dresses and comfortable loungewear. So, are Indian exporters clued into the growing opportunity of ‘playing’ extensively with knitted fabric for wider product application… Team AO investigates…
Observing plethoric presence in the recent S/S 2014 runways, knits got portrayed in remarkable sculptural effects obtained through various processing techniques. Sidelining the conventional jersey T-shirts, many manipulations of knits in jackets, sweaters and dresses were embraced by the collections of some heavy hitters in fashion. No longer limited to only T-shirts and sportswear, knits have become a major experimental niche with the designers. Mulberry gave an alternative to the broad tonal striped dress, by executing it with an intarsia, which is a relatively new design application in circular knitting. Choe incorporated laser cut in a white knit dress, like geometric lace, and a patchwork fisherman’s knit with peaked shoulders. From patterned sweaters by Gary Graham, Fashion East and Emilio De la Morena to jacquard skirts and tops presented by J Mendel and Holly Fulton, demand of knits in every medium is progressively increasing.
That the Indian export industry, particularly in the fashion hub of Delhi-NCR is keeping a close watch on international trends is obvious from the fact that many of the knit manufacturing companies in the region have started experimenting with knit fabrics to give their buyers new products and design elements earlier unseen from India. “We have specialized in overdyeing with an in-house unit, and this has given us the strength to use a mix of fabrics and minimize the colour difference so as to offer interesting products,” says Sahil Gauba, Director, V&S International, Gurgaon. The company is making dresses in a combination of knit and woven fabrics, which gives the product advantage of both the fabrics as also a new design element to explore. Incidentally, the last two seasons has seen a lot of this combination on the international ramp. With mesh picking up internationally, V&S is also combining solid knits with mesh for tops and dresses.
As knits gets wider acceptance for fashion, enquiries from buyers is also getting more differential. “Although we do knits in a limited way but our France based buyer has asked for knitted skirts and we did some sampling for the same 4 months back. Though we have not yet finalized the order, we are already working on some more samples of different application of knit fabrics, anticipating demand in the future,” says Harpreet, Merchandiser Manager, Kimo Clothing Design Concept, Noida. The trend for wider application of knitted fabric is being driven by many factors including ‘sports inspirations’ and concept of ‘comfort clothing’.
[bleft]Circular knitting has always been associated with T-shirts or sportswear; it is only recently that knits as a fabric is being increasingly used by designers and PD teams for wider product category and applications, which includes in combination with many fabric types.[/bleft]
Noida based TCNS, is also moving ahead with sampling of newer applications in knitted fabrics both flat knits and circular knits, as it has already tasted success in the area. “We have to think beyond the obvious and no longer is fashion knitwear about printing, embroideries and washes, we are experimenting with silhouettes and the buyers are responding very positively,” says Angad Pasricha, Director, TCNS. The company has repeat orders for a circular knitted dress done for NEXT, which according to Angad has become a ‘signature style’ for the company. In flat knits a jacket created last year for Swiss Military went on to become a bestseller. The company with good strength in both flat knits and circular knits is supplying to buyers like NEXT, M&S, Swiss Military, Benetton to name a few.
In fact, for companies that are having specialization in both circular and flat knits, the scope for innovation is very high. One company that attributes its growth to innovation is Shree Bharat International, Noida and the company has been working on new products for the past few years, which includes dresses in a combination of flat knits, circular knits and woven fabric. “Though our design department has been presenting collections that showcase knitted fabric in new applications for almost three years, it is only now that the demand from the buyers for differential products is coming in,” says Nizam Saifi, GM Knitwear, Shree Bharat International. The company believes that the trend is supported by the fact that a number of knitting units are manufacturing better quality knits with higher use of spandex yarn that give greater flexibility to the fabric for fit and comfort.
Keeping pace with fashion is not always easy, but with technology supporting new fashion demands, it is increasingly easier for the industry to explore and move beyond the obvious, but then there are challenges. “We are making fashion jackets on circular knits from the last three years for some buyers of Europe but this is not an easy job. One of our buyers still has some quality issue in the product, which we are working on,” says Amit Agarwal, MD, Genus Apparels, Faridabad. Yet the company is undeterred with the challenges and is looking at new applications for knitted fabrics including dresses. Knitted dresses are little difficult to handle during the production and one of the biggest challenges is to stitch long seams as the fabric is not stable, but then the problem is not so much of technology, but more on training and processes to handle such fabric.
A very design oriented company, Nath Brothers has been making dresses in knit fabric for some time now and their buyers are regularly placing orders for the same. “We have very good tailors who are masters in stitching knits, so production is not a problem. What we are now looking at is to tap the trend of mixing knits with woven fabrics which till now is not our forte,” says Vidhur Nath, Director, Nath Brothers. Vidhur agrees that the trend for fashion wear in knitted fabric is on the rise and it opens new areas to explore for the industry.
Delhi-NCR with its reputation as a design hub is ready for the transformation of knitted fabric into a fashion fabric, ably supported by better fabric varieties and technologies to support innovation. Companies in the region are not only clued into the trend, but also experimenting with new concepts to grab the attention of the buyer.
