It’s not often that there is major tea that shakes up the whole knitting community. However last week, We Are Knitters collaboration announcement shook up all of knitstagram. Knitstagram, for those who may not know, is a niche subset of Instagram like any other. A lot of knitters share their love for slow fashion and sustainability within the community, which is why the collaboration announcement with Zara came as a shock.
How is knitting anti-fast-fashion?
Knitters are often staunch supporters of the slow fashion community. The slow fashion movement began in response to the fast fashion industry and focuses on making, mending, or thrifting your own clothes. At the end of the day, the movement is about slowing the fashion production cycle, which takes a huge toll on the environment and many industry workers. Supporters of the slow fashion industry often advocate for better sustainability and environmental practices and fair treatment of workers.
So how do knitters fit into that equation?
Knitters often know more about the work and care that go into creating a garment and see how much garment workers are underpaid. Some of us even started making our own clothes in direct opposition to buying fast fashion. Some of us have our own issues within the knitting community, but at a minimum, knitters tend to be anti-fast-fashion.
So why is this collaboration a big deal?
We Are Knitters is a well-known yarn and pattern brand that is big in the knitting community. They produce kits aimed at beginner knitters, preach sustainability and slow fashion, and partner with many well-known knit-fluencers, which has garnered them a huge presence on knitstagram.
If knitting your own sweater takes you more than a week and costs more than $90, how can other brands produce them in less than one day for under $20? We encourage everyone to think about the labor, costs, and production processes that we’re supporting. By doing this, we have an opportunity to reduce pollution and our impact on the environment.
We Are Knitters Website
Zara is known as one of the big fast-fashion giants. They are valued at over $14 billion and have previously been accused of mistreating and exploiting their workers and contributing to the unsustainabile practices that plague the fashion industry.
Now – based on these two little descriptions – a collaboration doesn’t make any sense, right?
The Announcement:
Last week, We Are Knitters announced this collaboration as a “#dreamcollab.” A lot of knitters left comments expressing their disappointment. The collaboration included a bucket hat kit and a phone case kit, both being sold for 49.99 GBP.
The Response:
For several days after the announcement, We Are Knitters posted as usual. After an overwhelming amount of comments on every post demanding an explanation, We Are Knitters finally posted a response.
As you can see – the response really isn’t an apology, it’s a justification. They list a lot of reasons for their collaboration but, at the end of the day, how does it make sense to have a little crochet phone case kit priced even higher than the crochet top right next to it? It doesn’t.
Many knitters responded with their thoughts on the collaboration, even after the response post. Ultimately, We Are Knitters seemed to push away a lot of their core audience (even some of their influencers ended partnerships) with this collaboration. Is putting your kits in front of a new fast-fashion audience worth that?
I’m happy to be a part of a community that works in opposition to fast fashion and voices their opinion in situations like this. I think the collaboration is a huge miss for the slow-fashion community, but I’m just one person. My decision to purchase yarn from more sustainable brands is my own, but others may make the same decision.
Fellow knitters – the decision is yours. You are still a part of the slow fashion community if you choose to purchase from We Are Knitters, but I encourage you to also look at supporting small and local brands.
