The Rise of the Mega Knit
Recent runways saw a plethora of playful knitwear, indicating a yearning for comfort and thoughtful, hand-crafted design.
At his debut runway show for Alexander McQueen, Creative Director Seán McGirr told the fashion journalist Suzy Menkes backstage that he had been thinking about compression for Fall 2024. Compressed silhouettes, sculptures that were doing the same thing; body wrapping and body contortion. “Objects embedded and enveloped,” explained the show notes. On the runway, this concept played out as impactful, rolling quadruple collar jumpers in black and ivory hand-knitted wool, chunky and solid; and hooded funnel-neck jumpers in brown and blue acid–dyed hand-knit wool. Shapes were brilliantly bulbous, described as “knitted statuary.” Or what the fashion world is now calling “mega knits.”
Mega knits were also seen at Sacai, Stella McCartney, Gabriela Hearst, JW Anderson, Duran Lantink, and in the recent Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda collections, where scale, size, and technique mattered. “I thought it was really interesting that it was [a theme] McQueen picked up on,” observes Cozette McCreery, one third of the cult British knitwear label Sibling. She recalled how her colleague Sid Bryan had worked on something similar with Alexander McQueen back in the late 1990s (Bryan was a freelance knitwear designer there, from 1999 to 2001).
McCreery, along with Bryan and the late Joe Bates [co-founder and Creative Director of Sibling, who passed away in 2015], arguably were the originators of interesting knits, revitalizing and supersizing their presence in fashion. A look back illustrates this concept being picked up on by additional forward-thinking designers: For Fall/Winter 2007, Giles Creative Director Giles Deacon showed what could be described as hugs coming down the catwalk; one of the pieces was actually called Hug in a Mug, a balaclava with gloves attached. And for Fall/Winter 2013, Sister by Sibling's collection was full of voluminous, tactile, nubby pieces.
All the feels, it seems, are back. “Beautiful knits at any scale will always have their place in Fall collections,” says stylist Shala Rothenberg. She notes this season’s maximalist and bulkier sizes as part of a wider trend for “the anti–quiet luxury, moving away from the minimal,” and “offering a different take on luxury.”
For Duran Lantink, a former Andam winner and an LVMH Prize finalist, luxury was a conceptual take on the skiing lifestyle “where power-dressing meets play.” Since the Amsterdam-based brand’s debut at Paris Fashion Week in 2023, shape and exaggerated form have become style signatures. This season’s knitwear was taken to the extreme in a collaboration with the Netherlands-based Knitwear Lab, where yarns were spun into bulging shoulders, and Nordic knits were boxy and brief.
At Sacai, Chitose Abe introduced her fall collection with a quote inspired by the late street-style photographer Bill Cunningham: “Fashion is the armor to survive the reality of everyday life.” The designer explored the theme of emotional protection through clothes. Via the designer’s trademark splicing and hybrid combinations, knits were either armor-like or chaotic, but ultimately cozy. Stella McCartney was a “message from Mother Earth,” the brand said. Its knitwear included hand-knit looping ropes and hybrid jumpers that combined two knits in one. Roll-necks became a significant shape, and bold shoulders were built up in cashmere.
In 2023, the acclaimed Dutch trend forecaster Li Edelkoort made a prediction for Fall/Winter 2024 titled “Swaddling” and “Hibernation,” which seems about right. “Uncertainty and insecurities are pushing people into seeking comfort, which is really where knits kick in,” says Simar Deol, a foresight analyst at The Future Laboratory. “Designers are thinking about protectionism. I think the last couple of years have been tumultuous—financially, socially, and geopolitically. The desire for warmth, comfort, and embrace is peaking.”
The Future Laboratory has previously tracked trends such as “Doom Dressing” (the opposite of dopamine dressing) and “Spiritual Cosplay” (essentially escapism) in recent years, detected particularly among younger generations. Deol further notes, “Technology and AI fear-mongering only perpetuate this,” and questioned whether skills such as knitting would be passed down intergenerationally anymore. “Perhaps this explains some of the added details to the knitwear pieces, to evidence that certain craft is in fact irreplaceable.”
Craft, naturally, is inherent when it comes to knitwear, entwined with the touch of the hand and the role of the maker, and a certain sense of heritage and nostalgia. At JW Anderson, the first look was a dress made of giant knitting wool, which almost looked like an oversized knitting ball. The dress was mini, but the skeins were blown-up in size. There was one in yellow and one in brown. Alongside statement knits with folds down their front, it was a clear signal that knitting is back.
More recently, the Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda shows in July were a celebration of Sardinian craftsmanship, with handmade capes of colorful tubular wool (Instagram videos show just how thick it is), fringes, and braids, placing Sardinian weaving at its center. The models appeared grand and figurine-like in their striking looks. Doom and gloom aside, why does this resonate right now? “Everybody is very interested in the craft of things,” says McCreery, sharing that when it came to making Sibling creations, it was like knitting with broom handles. “And I think people want to know how things are made.”
