Katie Jones sustainable knitwear - 'Handmade in London with Love'

INTERVIEW_ “Colourful, handcrafted, remade and revived,” are just four words that Katie Jones, luxury knitwear designer uses to describe her work. Best known for her “waste not, want not” design approach, the young Central Saint Martins graduate is a firm believer in slow and sustainable

fashion, incorporating it in all aspects of her eponymous knitwear label.

“I started properly knitting when I was 16, and became very fashion oriented from there on,” explains Jones, who grew up sewing knitting and crocheting at home with her mother and grandmothers, which instilled her passion for the craft. “I grew up knitting and crocheting, and I love the craftsmanship involved in it and that you don't have to rely on finding a fabric you like, but that you just could make one from scratch.”

After doing a foundation course at London College of Fashion, she went on to study at CSM where she first earned her BA and then her MA in fashion knitwear, under the watchful eye of the late Louise Wilson. “Part of the course for my BA involved taking on an internship placement and it was when I was working for Mark Fast, doing crochet and knitwear design, that I realized I liked working in a small company, where I had the freedom to create my own designs. I am not very big business brained and I enjoyed being involved throughout the whole process of a item's design, from start to finish.”

"Knitting and crocheting is sustainable from the start"

Being able to do her “own thing from the start” and create something new is what drove Jones to launch her own fashion label, and she launched first collection for spring-summer 2014. Having full control over her designs and being able to select which fabric she uses remains an important part of her work, which is sustainable at heart. “Knitting and crocheting is sustainable from the start, as you are making something from scratch by hand and there is little to no waste involved, you only use what you needed. So without doing very much, at the core itself [knitting] is very sustainable.”

Sustainability, fair-trade and ethical practices, such as cutting down on waste, are key pillars in Jones design esthetic.“I believe that sustainability within the industry needs to become more the norm. Lots of fashion retailers today will do a small sustainable line as part of their collections, but I feel like it should become more of a standard outside of the industry. I think its easier for designer labels to be more involved with sustainability because they deal with a certain degree of turnover."

"But with fast-fashion companies the pace of turnover is almost too mad to keep up with and fashion because something that is disposable. I think that that is what upsets me the most, especially if you know how much effort went into making a piece, and then it becomes this throw away object... it's one of my main issues within the fashion industry, how much material gets wasted, or isn't used at all, or just gets put into store cardboards and just sits there. Which ends up being the sort of material I love using. Its almost like a puzzle to me, finding out which fabrics and materials fit together to make a whole.”

When she first began making her collections, Jones used to inherit bits and bobs from friends and family and used these materials to make her designs. She quickly realized that it was a “brilliant way” to work, especially since so many other fashion houses had excess and surplus fabric she could use. Nowadays she gets material for her collection from various sources; some people donate wool or vintage sweaters to her which she then unwinds and uses for her designs, she purchases leftover materials as well as bulk fabric for her designs.

Katie Jones spins new life into old fabrics

“It's funny because a lot of people assume that I would be quite limited in my designs, using other designer's surplus stock, but I think its one of the most exciting parts about my jobs, being able to work an old jumper into something new." For her upcoming spring-summer 2015 collection, dubbed 'Granny takes a Trip,' she made all the designs from scratch using huge bulk of leftover designer golden dresses that were faulty from a factory outlet and then unraveled to transform the yarn into summery dresses.

She found her inspiration for the collection when she went to visit her boyfriend's grandmother in Zakopane, Poland. Tradition and heritage have always been two main influences for Jones designs, and for her SS 15 collection she incorporated Polish folklore and traditions with her own background, her childhood memories, her grandmothers love of knitting as well as her love of color and statement stitches. Jones adds that she is also very drawn to traditional and national costume, which is reflected in her designs. “I love the intricate details that can be made by combining aran jumpers with color and really loves how traditional costumes and dresses are so detailed.”

Her ongoing knitwear design efforts have led to her showing her collections twice at London Fashion Week's Estethica showroom as one of its Emerging Talents, as well as earning her a spot as one of three UK semi-finalists in EcoChic's 2014-2014 design award. “The first time I was selected for Estethica it felt very bizarre,” she reveals with a laugh. “Because I knit and crochet, all my pieces are handmade and its a very labor intensive way of producing garments. So when I was thinking with more of a commercial brain and marketing wise, I was reached out to Orsola de Castro (founder of Estethica) to learn more about sourcing and find some contacts who could perhaps help out. Then what began as a small evening project eventually snowballed into my application for Esethica.”

“To be honest it didn't seem real until I was there in the showroom. But it was an amazing opportunity and so much more came from it than I could have originally thought when I asked Orsola for her help. Her application for EcoChic design award ran a similar course. “I met Louise de Testa at Estethica and she just raved about it. She enjoyed the experience so much. And then I met Hannah who was very keen and it seemed silly not to apply.” Although she was not selected to continue in the competition, she still was pleased with the response she has had to her designs.

"People really appreciate the handcraft element of my work"

“In the UK people really appreciate the handcraft element of my work, which is interesting. I have done a lot of personal order work here and people seem to love than an item can be so bespoke – because I hand knit everything I am open to personal preference, if they want the sleeve longer or it in another color and people love the fact that they can personalize their order... that they are getting a one-off piece. That's what I love doing, I love making pieces that I know someone is going to treasure and look after them.”

Subconsciously Jones does not make any of her designs to fit in with any emerging fashion trends. Although is aware of what has been recently popularly within the industry, she tries to stay away from playing into trends. “If you incorporate a current trend into the collection you are making, and it comes out a year later, it may end up just sitting there and not being sold. When you are busy creating a collection, it needs to be timeless.” She does not practically aim to hit trends. “Sometimes when it does happen it is because I've reach the odd communal way of thinking with the rest of the industry.”

“I think people should be wearing things for longer and should be buying more styles that they love and will wear over and over, rather than buying trends.Then they don't have to buy as much.” Consumers making less, more thoughtful purchases is another movement of slow fashion Jones agrees with and uses within her fashion label. “I guess I am anti-trend in that sense...I like that I produce smaller collections in limited amounts of pieces, that my pieces are not mass produced so I can ensure everything is hand produced in London.”

“If I didn't get to hand knit my collections myself, it would make me sad...it is quite time consuming so I do work with my mum, me and her make 90 – 95 percent everything, and then I have some other small helpers on the side who help me when I need it. But that's another part I really love about it. I find that when I design new pieces that I am very tactile, I don't sit down and slack at all, I just pick up a needle and start making something to see how it will work out. It's the whole process I really love.”

Vivian Hendriksz

Photos: Katie Jones, SS15