ALTHOUGH creating quality textiles is the company\u2019s forte, Ballarat\u2019s Interknit also works to support young and emerging fashion students to execute their designs.<\/p>\n
While it isn\u2019t the first time the team have worked alongside student designers, owner of Interknit Andrew Blaszak said he was happy to continue the collaboration and help students reach their conceptual goals.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are not many places like us in Australia that can actually make for these students,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel it\u2019s necessary to help the next generation with their designs, although sometimes they are a bit challenging because it\u2019s keeping us in jobs and keeping youth enthused to make stuff in Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re happy to help them create their final art piece for presentation purposes and I\u2019m proud to say that some of the girls last year came back and went to bulk production.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of this years\u2019 fashion students working with Interknit is RMIT\u2019s Olivia Fagan, and said Mr Blaszak she is pushing the boundaries with her designs.<\/p>\n
\u201cOlivia wanted a jumpsuit and we\u2019ve never done a jumpsuit so it was one of those things that we thought we would just give it a go,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoing so gives us a heads up into making that sort of thing in case we were to take jumpsuits into bulk production and it keeps us on our toes in comparison to our plain-Jane school jumpers.\u201d<\/p>\n
With knitwear at the core of her graduate collection, Ms Fagan said it seemed only natural to work with Interknit. The bonus was she\u2019s directly supporting a local business.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re one of the last functioning mills in the country, it\u2019s important to me to celebrate Australian industry,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was exciting to have someone like Interknit see the potential as a designer and to say they want to work along with me, it gives me a lot of power and excitement to be able to do what I want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to the obvious knitwear capabilities and small business benefits of the company, Ms Fagan said it was especially satisfying to be involved in the entire process.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a powerful thing to be able to create your own textile with little to no waste compared to normal sewing and pattern making,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy collection is focused on the textile and how important that is, it\u2019s not about having really crazy designs, it\u2019s about letting the textile do the talking.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve really enjoyed working with them and makes me really excited to keep working with Australian designers and textile manufacturers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finishing off her honours in fashion design at RMIT, Lauren Hart McKinnon is another student who is also currently making use of Interknit\u2019s staff and resources.<\/p>\n
With a scholarship from the Australian Wool Education Trust under her belt, Ms McKinnon said it has been great to work alongside a direct producer.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs part of my collection, I have a vest and a dress version of the vest and a jumper and a scarf with Interknit,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really grateful to be able to have a relationship with the people who are directly involved in making the textiles, contrasted against the usual process of fast fashion which is having absolutely no idea what is going into the clothes.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs fashion moves into this mass-produced offshore entity, bringing it back to local and have a conversation with the manufacturers and put money back into our local economy was huge for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
As inspired by past students who also collaborated with Interknit including Ballarat\u2019s Jordyn Smith, Ms McKinnon said she was empowered to create pieces that reflected her sustainable ethos.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis new generation of fashion designers is incredibly focused on slow fashion and giving clothes the best chance to be more than just a piece that you wear and throw away,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s difficult as students because we make everything and not really needing to get things outsourced but RMIT has been moving towards a much more circular design model and trying to implement the idea of sustainability not just environmentally but also socially.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ALTHOUGH creating quality textiles is the company\u2019s forte, Ballarat\u2019s Interknit also works to support young and emerging fashion students to execute their designs. While it isn\u2019t the first time the team have worked alongside student designers, owner of Interknit Andrew Blaszak said he was happy to continue the collaboration and help students reach their conceptual […]<\/p>\n