Knitwear Trends from the AW20 Fashion Shows
I haven’t followed the shows properly for several years now - not since I worked in the commercial fashion industry as a swatch designer. However, after reading a super interesting article by The Cutting Class about JW Anderson’s AW20 show, I decided to take a look at the collections designers are putting out for Autumn/Winter. It ended up being very inspiring!
In this blog post, I’m sharing some of the knitwear looks that inspired me and some trends that I spotted amongst the collections I browsed.
Whilst I don’t let trends guide my design work too strongly, it’s always inspiring to see what key design ideas are being used across the collections.
Please note: I have way more inspiration than I could visually share in this blog post so make sure to check out my Knitwear Inspiration AW20 Pinterest board and click through on the links to see what designs I’m referring to.
Statement Sleeves
I’ve been spotting this in ready-to-wear for a while now and you can even see it come through into the hand-knitting world. Based on the collections I looked through, statement sleeves are still going to be a big trend for the foreseeable future.
These statement sleeves tend to have lots of volume, whether it’s throughout the entire sleeve or only in a specific section.
Fendi did an interesting take on drop-shoulder sweaters with an unexpected bishop’s sleeve. Whilst I can’t see myself wearing this silhouette, I do love those giant sleeves with a nipped-in cuff. It was interesting to see this silhouette in a fisherman’s rib texture - I don’t recall seeing that before!
Jil Sander and Pringle of Scotland showcased oversized sweaters with voluminous sleeves pushed up to the elbow. I think this could translate really well into elbow-length puff sleeves on sweaters with lots of ease. The aesthetic of these designs feels very “Petite Knits”.
I also thought the Juliet sleeve on the other Pringle of Scotland sweater was quite interesting. This sleeve feels really 80s to me, but I can see it making a resurgence. There is something quite lovely about this design. I think the stitch and the roll-neck make it feel a little cooler.
Fisherman’s Stripes
I saw a couple of stripes in fisherman’s rib (brioche) and I thought they looked really fresh. It really diffuses the stripes and makes them look softer and less graphic.
The Max Mara pullover the most interesting one to me. I love how the chunky fisherman’s rib gives the stripes a zig-zag look.
I also love how they’ve varied the stripe patterning and lined it up on the sleeves and body. My favourite detail is how the top stripe section drapes over the drop-shoulders. Beautiful!
At Colville, the stripes are chunkier with a larger pattern repeat and a more varied colour palette. Again, they used a drop-shoulder shape so the stripes fall off the shoulders.
I like how they mixed it up by using colour blocks on the sleeves rather than using the same stripe repeat. It helps to make, what could be, a very intense sweater feel less fussy.
Pattern Clash
Again, pattern clash and patchwork is a trend that has been popping up in ready-to-wear for years but hasn’t quite reached the hand-knitting world properly.
As expected, Missoni’s pattern clashing involves lots of colour and graphic pattern. I have fallen in love with that long belted coat! The varying directions and colours of the stripes are incredible and somehow, it feels quite wearable?! All of the stripes are corrugated using Ottoman stitch, which has a similar feel to garter stitch. There are some serious log cabin, Stephen West vibes here.
The patchwork on the Missoni pullover is super interesting. I’d like to see that knitted without seams - although imagine trying to grade it! Even just the stitch inspiration is lovely. I love the ombré cable. You could create a similar effect with intarsia cables - a variegated yarn for the cables and a solid for the background.
The Zero + Maria Cornejo sweater is more my style, of course. The colour palette is restricted to focus on varying textures patchworked together. I like how each section is knitted in a different direction with assorted trims and details. Whilst it’s quite conceptual, it still feels wearable.
3D Stitches
I was really drawn to these graphic sweaters by Pringle of Scotland and when I looked closer, I was even more intrigued! The triangles aren’t just intarsia - they are separate pieces of fabric attached by every side but the bottom (a bit like upside-down pockets!).
The dimensional effect is really interesting and reminds me of Britt-Marie Christoffersson’s Pop Knitting book! It’s relatively straight-forward to create fabric like this on a knitting machine, but it’s much more laborious by hand. Even so, it’s inspiring to consider how to create more dimensional fabrics.
My AW20 Pinterest Board
I gathered lots more inspiration from the AW20 shows on a dedicated Pinterest board, where I have a section dedicated to special details - my favourite! If you fancy getting inspired, make sure you follow the board because I’ll be adding to it when I spot new pieces of interesting knitwear from the AW20 shows.
