Designing for the next generation of wool wearing women

WHAT’S it like to be thirty-five and leading an eighty-four-year-old company into the twenty-first century?

Interknit Branberry company director, Kassie Blaszak, keeps busy doing just this and has since 2007.

A legacy of a bygone age, Interknit Branberry continues to thrive in an unassuming factory nestled at the base of Mount Pleasant behind Yarrowee River.

From there Buninyong locals, Kassie and her husband, Andrew, run one of Australia’s last remaining commercial knitting mills.

When machine knitting started in the 15th century, it was with exclusively male knitting guilds and structured apprenticeships.

Over the years this male dominated industry did a backflip and by the time Interknit Hosiery made its way to Clunes it was the largest employer of women in the district.

Today, Interknit Branberry – previously Interknit Hosiery, established in 1939 – still employ more women than men, but, unlike the good old days there are no longer incentives to join the industry, such as earning a qualified trade.

“The basic skills to run commercial knitting and sewing machines are no longer taught in schools and the closest tertiary course to our industry is fashion design, which focuses on creativity and lacks the practical and technical aspects of machine operation and maintenance which are vital to succeed,” Kassie said.

There are no longer commercial spinning mills in Australia, and Kassie understands why the last of them turned to imports. It’s something she has also considered in moments of hardship.

“Importing our raw product during the pandemic was hard,” she said.

“There were delays at every point and for months Andrew and I poured every resource we had into keeping the business going.

“There were at least 15 families depending on us for wages and we had mining contracts to fulfil under our Worksmart label but were stretching for yarn to get it done with.”

Fortunately, the subsequent surge in interest about Australian made garments bolstered their hopes during the pandemic, with more people than ever before choosing to buy locally and ethically.

Interknit Branberry was well placed to supply this emerging market with Branberry, their house brand of blankets, scarves, jumpers and more.

A brand which Kassie has exclusively designed for and nurtured since 2013.

“I began overseeing Interknit Branberry’s brands back in 2007 and since then our team have developed our brand Ballarat Gold into one trusted for quality and longevity with classic styles for men and women,” she said.

“After 2013 I experimented more with knit structures, styles and colours and kept this under our Branberry label with the beautiful blankets and homewares.

“Since the quality overhaul, we find people coming back who have had their jumper for 10 or 15 years and are looking for a replacement.

“It’s a great feeling to know we’re offering them that same quality again, but we do joke that it’s bad for business to only sell a jumper once a decade.”

To find out more visit interknit.com.au.