Join Harry Styles’s Gen-Z knitting circle
WHEN you think of TikToking, Depoping Gen Z, knitting doesn’t spring to mind. But now needles and balls of yarn are the accessories du jour — thanks to Harry Styles.
It began in February, when the former 1Der rehearsed for The Today Show wearing a rainbow patchwork cardigan. Said cardi — the creation of Dalston-based Northern Irish designer JW Anderson — is now virtually famous. Though given its sold-out status and £1,250 price tag, it’s the DIY versions that have gone viral with the star’s stans taking to TikTok to make their own via the Harry Styles Cardigan Challenge.
LA-based Liv Huffman, 22, (@lilbittylivie) who has more than 765,000 followers, was among the early adopters. Her video detailing how she crocheted each square before stitching it together has accumulated more than 3.3 million views and almost one million likes.
So is the OG creator Anderson narked at the knock-offs? Far from it. In fact, at the start of the month he released the pattern, compiled by Ruth Herring (@confessions_of_a_ yarnaholic), on the brand’s Instagram page. “I am so impressed and incredibly humbled by this trend and everyone knitting the cardigan,” Anderson wrote. “I really wanted to show our appreciation so we are sharing the pattern with everyone. Keep it up!”
But while this homespun revolution — or #craftcore as it is better known to those who mainly converse in hashtags — has been quietly weaving its way through a generation which counts sustainability, authenticity and originality at the top of their wardrobe requirements, lockdown has caused its popularity to soar.
Novice knit-kit specialist Wool and the Gang has seen traffic to its site increase by 69 per cent since the start of lockdown, with its social following growing by 174 per cent week on week. It also hosts hundreds of tutorials on its YouTube channel.
Among its most popular kits is a collaboration with Irish-born, London-based designer Katie Ann McGuigan — a DIY version of her cropped checkerboard sweater worn by Dua Lipa. The £95 New Rules kit includes needles, the pattern and sustainable yarn, and the packs are customisable with a choice of 23 colours.
This sense of community spirit is also the driving force behind Brit brand Colville’s latest charity initiative. The label, founded by ex-Marni designers Molly Molloy and Kristin Forss and former Vogue fashion director Lucinda Chambers, sent out a call on Instagram in March for knitters to contribute a 20x20cm square. A total of 361 patches have been collected and are now being constructed into a blanket due to be auctioned off in aid of Cadmi, a refuge in Milan for women victims of domestic abuse. “The response has been just fantastic,” says Chambers. “I think it’s making things — it feels purposeful when we are questioning many things. We’re united by such a simple thing.”