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The one thing that we can all admire about British weather is that we can guarantee that there weather will always get a little chilly throughout the year. As a result, knitwear is and always will be in! And with that in mind, we Brits will all welcome a gorgeous, chunky scarf on a cool day. Therefore, the produced accessories from the Wool and the Gang and Giles Deacon create a present and much admired fashion statement.

At the London Fashion Week show, British designer, Giles Deacon’s knitwear was co-designed by Wool and the Gang, made its local gang of knitters. The exceptional knitwear on display included chunky, hand-knitted sweater dresses decorated with tulip Intarsia, extra-long, stripy scarves and a selection of mittens. All woven garments are made with sustainably produced with Peruvian yarn. The UK Gang, aged 20 to 60 years old, knit in their own time from home, and then they sell their products via the Wolf and Gang website. For the show, the Gang produced a number of Giles and Wool, and then also Gang hats for journalists attending the show, along with a knit kit, prompting them to produce their own. The Gang continues to grow worldwide with knitters now based in Peru, US, France, Switzerland and Australia.

I once taught myself to knit, in my days of procrastination during an exam period. I did attempt a make a hat, but discovered early that it was too fiddly and a far too daunting task, and ended up making simple scarves, and so, with that experience, I have the utmost respect for the Wolf and Gang knitters that have had the patience to create their signatures, chunky knit beanies for the editors attending the show, as well as jumper dresses and hats for the collection itself. This all came from their inner gang of twenty or so knitters that, armed with their knitting needles, spent the three weeks in advance creating the these urban, knitted beanies, made in bright colours of either turquoise, grey or orange, and simply designed with two big, cartoon eyes that resulted in an urban, and spring-like beanie that would brighten up and add a little personalisation to any outfit.

Giles simply said, ‘Why not?’ backstage after the show, while Jade Harwood, co-founder and creative director of WATG stated, how ‘He’s never been afraid of being bold and daring. He’s like “go big or go home.”‘ And they certainly did go big; with the oversized orange and cream tulip knit, jumper dresses and supersized beanies. The collection itself was darker, inspired, Giles said, by the melancholia of the dark side of nature. The show saw from its collection giant cockroaches swarming ball gowns, leather items as well as huge mohair coats, and thorny printed prom dresses, all of which followed in mainly black and white colours with splashes of bright orange.

At the wool and gang website, you can currently shop for their knitted jackets, oversized sweaters, and other woolly accessories such as scarves, hats and even bags! The website also offers a knit it yourself section as a cheaper alternative, where you purchase a knit kit for any accessory or item of clothing you want to knit yourself! I may purchase one myself, and finally learn how to make a beanie!   
Yasmin Mahdy
Click here to see the website.