They've got us in stitches: new-look knits

Life&style Hired fresh out of college, the Canadian-born, London-based Mark Fast is just one of many young designers making a move into knits. M examines the edgy, woollen wonders that are nothing like your granny used to make.

Hired fresh out of college, the Canadian-born, London-based Mark Fast is just one of many young designers making a move into knits. Tracy Nesdoly examines the edgy, woollen wonders that are nothing like your granny used to make. You may be forgiven for thinking of knitwear as "cosy" and "dependable", more of a trusty wardrobe staple than a collectable. In fact, the only wild knitted thing in your wardrobe might well be an old sweater handknitted by granny, any unusual pattern having more to do with dropped stitches than actual intention.

With the exception of Azzedine Alaïa's incredible clingy-yet-swirly dresses, knitwear has been more about jumpers and cardigans than revolutionary design for a long time. Now it is all about to change. Call it the Mark Fast effect, but suddenly knitwear is edgy, creative - almost daring. Fast is a Canadian-born designer who trained at the UK's top art and design college, Central St Martins in London. Along with a handful of talented young knitwear designers, he is redefining our view of this old-fashioned craft. Fast creates his pieces by hand on domestic knitting machines at his studio in Hackney, East London. Each one is wrought with painstaking attention to detail. His body-con dresses resemble sinewy cobwebs made of Lycra and yarn, a kind of urban lace that owes nothing to tablecloths and tea linens.

He describes his working process as "organic" and "abstract expressionist", and indeed it is closer to art than it is to argyle. Only three seasons into his career, he is already a powerful, influential figure. And it doesn't end with him. Take fellow London-based knitwear designer Louise Goldin, for instance, whose approach to knitwear is positively "new age". Her intricate laces and patterns are mostly computer-generated, a new concept for the industry, and project a kind of athletic, tough-girl vibe.

"I create knitwear that is not in its traditional form," Goldin says. "I love combining knitwear with fabrics such as lace, leather and tulle. It's very much about incorporating mixed media." Mixed media is also used by the California-based Mulleavy sisters, founders of the contemporary label Rodarte. Their inventive collection can be found in the mega-brand boutique Colette in Paris, where crowds gathered last autumn to stare at the grey and white cobwebbed knits draped on the mannequins in the window. Their feminine gossamer fabrics were offset by tough boots and leather jackets that had an almost hammered-metal look.

Tim Ryan, another member of the knit-pack, offers pure rock 'n' roll glamour - ripped T-shirts, fringing and super-short dresses. As he says: "A great knit piece can look really tough or really sexy, and yet be so comfortable. Tailoring has had its day." Even Pringle of Scotland, one of knitwear's old guard, established in 1815 and known for quality cashmere and comfy argyles, is reinventing traditional techniques. For autumn/winter 2010, garments were deconstructed into complex geometric patterns, and laddered tunics and cable knits were supersized for the catwalk.

Browns, the high-fashion retailer in London, was one of the first to jump on the new knitwear trend and grabbed Mark Fast right out of college. His collection is one of Browns' top sellers, despite the pay cheque-sized price tags. Happily, though, a version of his line will be available this spring at the more accessible Topshop. "We were drawn to this collection because it felt so original. He uses techniques that we haven't seen before, and now in his third season, it still feels this way," says Jemma Dyas, a buyer for Browns Focus, where Mark Fast can be found. "I think our customers realise they are buying into something special with a definite signature."

That's all fine, but doesn't body-con mean only supermodels need apply? Not at all, as Fast ably demonstrated in September when he made headlines around the world for sending plus-sized models down the catwalk for his collection at London Fashion Week. Knitwear loves curves as it turns out and the larger girls (actually, only a UK size 12 but that's a whole different story) looked amazing - better than their knitting-needle-shaped sisters.

"The show opened up his customer base," says Dyas. "Afterwards, we had a host of customers from size 10 to 16 coming in to try on his intricately crafted and sensual dresses." The great step forward in this look, as expressed by this new wave of designers, is the juxtaposition of soft and hard, gossamer webs paired with tough leather; offbeat proportions that make predictable cable knits startling, and laddering, which has taken the place of traditional pretty lace.

Meanwhile, one rather plus-sized fashionista who wears nothing but knits, jerseys and Mark Fast dresses, says it is knitwear's down-to-earth quality that is the key to its popularity: "Knits are comfortable. I don't think I could take a waistband any more." It seems granny knew what she was doing after all when she wanted you to be comfy-cosy in your nice cardigan.