A knitwear designer is a trained fashion designer who has decided to specialise in knit and weaving skills. A knitwear designer could work in house for one brand. They could work full time for a supplier and propose knitwear to multiple clients. Or they could be independent freelancers. Because the knitwear in a brand’s collection may just be at wintertime a brand won’t be big enough to sustain employing someone full time. Therefore a freelancer knitwear designer could have multiple clients at any one time. 

It is worth noting, knitwear designers can work across all kinds of knit - this includes jersey (like t-shirt material) all the way to heavy pieces of knitwear. Good knitwear designers because of the specialist technical knowledge required to be able to design successfully, can be in high demand.

Following design training, knitwear specialists will work with design teams to translate their ideas using innovative skills or techniques, or perhaps very traditional, manual methods to produce woven or knitted garments and fabrics. The work is very detailed and usually requires experience working with specialist machinery and unusual materials. Computer sketches and development may also be required as part of the process, in addition to being able to source specific materials to produce pieces. 

Working either in a freelance or in house capacity, designers will develop swatches and samples to share with the brand’s design team to build upon. Training in garment construction, and then specialised skills around knit and weave are needed for the job. As well as good communications skills, the ability to work well in a team and working to tight deadlines are also necessary. 



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