LOVE MEILLE: The return in force of knitting - it

New Hobby of Fashionistas and Technique Signature of many young creators, knitting has had a return in force thanks to confinement.Between the quest for cocoon clothing and ecological consciousness, detouring a substantive trend.

Pepita Marín still remembers.When she launched We Are Knitters with Alberto Bravo, ten years ago, it was because she saw a very stylish girl knit in the New York metro.Intuitively, she thought that there was something to do in Europe with knitting.But not a grandmother way on a rocking armchair by the fireside.A knitting for young, fun, trendy, anti-standing and accessible thanks to a licked kit sold on the internet.Of course, We Are Knitters was a success.Of course, Pepita and Alberto have just seen.Today, this Spanish company declares 18 million turnover per year and its growth is estimated at 80 % over the year 2020.Yes, confinement was an accelerator.It was necessary a manual activity, space -saving and soothing to face the period.Reception also involves making a Doudou sweater.The case of Emilie, 43, in search of a hobby, which began to knit in November, during the second confinement.At the end of fall at the endless rainy weekends, she commands ammunition of balls on the internet, is equipped with a pair of needles, downloads some tutorials on Pinterest.Here it is launched."It's like meditation.When I knit, I put myself in a bubble.The body launches and my head empties.A real moment of pleasure, ”she explains."Medknitation": confirm the Anglo-Saxons, always on the lookout for a lexical find."Good for the heart and the brain"* abound scientific journals.In parallel, Émilie teaches in a Parisian school.Motivated by a virtuoso colleague from knitting, the two meet once a week since January to refine their practice.Other acolytes have joined them.In total, they are eight to share this moment of complicity."See the wool move forward, tied with address: it's full of meaning.Without forgetting the creative power of this practice, which allows all audacity: twists, embroidery, pompoms.We can do lots of different things!»Insists Julie, 45, at the origin of the club.

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The year 2020 made people want to indulge in simple and slow pleasures, such as finding a manual activity forgotten after years spent in front of the screens.Thus transforming knitting into cool leisure.Women and men.On Instagram, 443,000 posts compare this art to yoga.While the most skillful are passionate about "netknit", the art of combining needles with Netflix series.In total, there are 2.4 million publications with the hashtag #knittinguergaddict.The phenomenon is visible on Youtube, where JW Anderson made a card with its tutorial allowing to reproduce the curriculum of Harry Styles.Palpable also in the streets of major cities, judging by the ever longer queues in front of the haberdashery.

Eco -responsible values

But, more generally, the COVVI-19 has changed our relationship to fashion and put attention to cocoon clothes, to soft and second skin materials, like a house for the body.The word "cocooning" may seem a large tote, but many of us know the power of a comfortable comfortable garment capable of putting the danger at a distance.If the definition does not specifically imply mesh clothes, these are privileged in fact.Difficult to imagine a blazer when you think of a garment where you feel good.Because nothing will replace the protection of a thick cardigan in which to snuggle or a fluffy mesh where.Nor the promise of sweetness of a cashmere jog where nothing squeezes, hinders, forces.As if the heat came from the cozy material of the garment."It is a trend that is growing more and more," judges Laure Berny, expert in the thread, whose company Alain Berny provides among the biggest French luxury brands.The craze is not new, but it has been accelerated lately."Five years ago, the demand for synthetic fibers dominated the market.Today, we promote certified fibers that respect the planet and animal welfare.Like virgin wool or merino.There is nothing more natural, ethical and artisanal than wool.It is even 100 % biodegradable and compostable!She says.But then why has such a democratic and apparently virtuous material been abandoned?

The Same Company that hired me and seven other people who are no long there is the juy is holding an event called… https: // t.CO/4CYC7BNK1D

— Joe Baseball fan go CUBS go ATHLETICS 🐻 🐘 ⚾ Wed Apr 28 19:51:38 +0000 2021

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The history of wool is older than that of fabric.But we are not talking about it because it was an art of the poor associated with the universe of Charles Dickens."For a long time, it has summed up to underwear and little things in everyday life.It was a useful crafts to protect yourself.Never to show yourself.It did not leave this imagination that towards the end of the 19th century, with the birth of the hosiery.Then took the upper hand by accompanying the emancipation of women thanks also to the visionary talent of Gabrielle Chanel, who was a fan ”, points Charlotte de Fayet, artistic director of Molli, brand specializing in mesh for a hundred and thirty-five years.It also observes the rise of this cocoon material carried by young brands, which made it a style manifesto.There are those who swear by the cashmere pop and low price from Future.Others who love Harley of Scotland's seamless shetland without seamless.To the point that a Falconeri sweater or a Cardigan Notshy have become basic, as timeless as a t-shirt or jeans.And the hunt for models on request, hand knitted by brands like Rose Carmine or Stella Pardo, has airs again snobbery.Just like the quest for quality fibers, with RWS labels, for responsible Wool Standard, which guarantees animal welfare, RMS, as responsible Mohair Standard, the equivalent for the Mohair, or GRS, Global Recycled Standard, for La Laineor recycled cashmere.For a long time, when we talked about knitting, we only became interested in the finished product, in his cut, in technical prowess to make it, to the touch.In recent years, the public has understood the challenges of production and has been wondering the different stages of the sector.This craze is only justice.The scandals linked to the conditions of breeding of the angora rabbit or the Mohair goat, with moaning animals of pain, experienced public opinion. Jusqu'à pousser H&M, Gap, Zara ou American Vintage à bannir la laine angora ou mohair de leurs collections.

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Not only is it a question of restoring its fair value to this noble material, but buying a sweater labeled Woolmark, whose logo in the form of a woolen ball indicates that it is in virgin wool from healthy and lively animals, has become aresistance gesture."Favor 100% wool, make sure that the fiber is sourced, with the aim of offering a garment that lasts," explains Adam Jones, director of the master dedicated to the mesh professions of the French fashion institute,is a practice against the cycles of fast fashion.It is an art, a relevant craftsmanship in a world where more and more of us express our dissatisfaction with the consequences of the overproduction of the textile sector.This year has only accelerated this awareness.Recycled cashmere or vegan wool have also been acclaimed."Knitting was launched eighteen months ago and, from the start, we wanted to commit from an ecological point of view.This is why we have offered cashmere whose fiber is recycled at 50 %.If there could be an a priori on the recycled a few years ago, we are going beyond that.From now on, consumers are proud to say that what they wear is part of a green approach, ”remarks Remi de Laquintane, founder of the label.Although marginal, this movement spreads with a strong ethical and ecological resonance.And a whole philosophy that promotes the local asserts itself."80 % of the wool collected in France goes to Asia without anyone knowing in what form it comes back, recalls Eric Brones, author of" Luxury and Resilience "(ed.Dunod).Fortunately, some players are busy relaunching local know-how.Like the Tricolor collective, which brings together breeders, manufacturers and distributors, in order to encourage the Renaissance of the French lainières sectors, ”he added.Brands like Balzac Paris or the French Slip launch models 100 % made in France, made in Arles.And after years of closings and relocations, some knitters reopen in Mayenne, in the Tarn and the Lyon region."A new generation of designers attached to these eco -responsible values is emerging.We train nearly ten students by promotion knowing how to express all the creative potential of this material once confined to basic sweaters and accessories.Because the mesh can represent up to 40 % of the turnover of a brand, ”concludes Adam Jones.As proof, more than ever the stitch appeared on the podiums.And, like Bottega Veneta, among the most influential.

* Studies of the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind-Body Medicine (Massachusetts) and General Hospital and Harvard Training Hospital.

Green fibers

Creating clothes in which we want to curl while respecting the environment is not easy task for the fashion industry.Without even talking about fur, animal mesh is not most virtuous: it is also one of the five materials whose production is the most polluting.As for the breeding conditions of sheep, alpacas or goats (like human work forces), they vary a lot according to the final price of the product.To remedy this, some claws now offer eco -responsible options.The cream of the cream of the mesh, the cashmere, has for example found its vegetable alter ego: the New York brand Pair, specialist in drowning materials and engaged against animal suffering, offers the sweetness of this luxurious fiber in vegan version.“In recent years, there has been a generalized awareness, attests Arnaud Brunois, sustainable development manager at Ecopel, market leader in wool and fur substitutes.Consumers will favor materials that do not require animal suffering.Especially among young generations, particularly sensitive to this cause.»»

The increase in demand pushes large luxury groups to find eco-friendly alternatives to traditional materials that are not derived from oil.Because, from an ecological point of view, the synthetic, although it does not imply killing or raising animals in battery, is not ideal.Polyester and acrylic are largely responsible for pollution at ocean plastic microparticles: according to the NGO Fashion Revolution, which militates for a more virtuous fashion, 92 % of microplastics found in arctic waters are microfibersfrom the textile industry.In 2019, the Popess of the Vegan Stella McCartney fashion therefore launched with Ecopel a fake fur coat based on corn: a koba fiber, fully recyclable, which produces up to 63 % greenhouse gases less less.It is a success.Then it is the turn of French designer Vanessa Bruno to make a sensation by offering the essential of the winter of 2020-2021, the Teddy coat, in a vegan version based on hemp, as hot and beautiful as the animal curllet.Big bonus: Cannaba - This is the name of this material - is produced in the Vosges.