Designing Knit Designers / / Martina Motta.

• VerfasserIn: Motta, Martina,
• Place / Publishing House: Mailand : : FrancoAngeli,, 2019.
• Year of Publication: 2019
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (232 pages)

Traditionally associated with craftmanship and manual work, knitwear seems a quite unusual subject of investigation for scientific research. This book places it as an integrative part of the industrial design culture where the dialogue between a productive system of excellence and the design discipline taught in universities becomes a topic of central concern. From an industrial standpoint, knitwear is a fertile ground of technological experimentation while being at the same time one of the most traditional sectors of Made in Italy. The complexity of a long and fragmented production chain is an interesting challenge for designers but affects the training and the knowledge transfer inside companies. On the academic side, the presence of such an industry creates the urgency for higher education to understand how to train knit designers as new professionals, and thus the opportunity for knitwear to be recognized as a discipline deserving specific teaching strategies and a focused scientific research. The present book reports an experimentation conducted in the unique conditions of the Italian industrial design culture, that defined tools and methods to train knit designers not as artists, but with the technical and cultural knowledge and the project-oriented mindset that is typical of industrial design disciplines. These contents are of interest for the academy, as they constitute a tool to design teaching experiences oriented to such a specific industrial sector; for those approaching knitwear design, as it is a pool of information on the complexity of knitwear, a map of the background knowledge, collected and rearranged, and a compass to be guided in building one's own skills; for professionals, who will find here their history, the opinions of colleagues, the opportunity to integrate their knowledge and to learn more about the in-depth experimental, technical and design work that takes place at Politecnico di Milano.

Table of Contents

Knitwear design. A design discipline between manual tradition and advanced technology by Giovanni Maria Conti pag. 11 -- 1. Introduction » 15 -- 1. Knitwear design as a scientific discipline: a complexity to be addressed » 15 -- 2. Experimental actions to teach knitwear design: a research strategy towards innovation » 17 -- 2. Knitwear, really? » 20 -- 1. The academic discourse » 21 -- 1.1. Scientific research in design: the roots » 21 -- 1.2. The discussion about fashion design » 22 -- 1.3. A role for knitwear design among academic research » 24 -- 2. Knitwear as an Italian industrial reality » 26 -- 2.1. Introduction » 26 -- 2.2. Culture » 28 -- 2.3. Product-oriented creativity » 31 -- 2.4. Territory and knowledge » 35 -- 2.5. Small and specialized » 40 -- 2.6. Is Italian knitwear still strong? The issue of competitiveness for SMEs » 44 -- 3. Design education and knowledge transfer pag. 48 -- 3.1. The root of design education: from art schools to integrated knowledge » 48 -- 3.1.1. The Italian context: from self-made designers to structured study paths » 53 -- 3.1.2. Between flexibility and specialisms: the Italian industrial designer » 54 -- 3.1.3. University and companies: a long-debated relationship » 55 -- 3.2. From designers to fashion designers » 58 -- 3.2.1. The importance of the context » 58 -- 3.2.2. Fashion design education » 61 -- 3.2.3. A fashionable kind of complexity » 62 -- 3.2.4. Industrial fashion designers as cultural mediators in the collective creativity system » 67 -- 3.2.5. Designerly ways of knowing fashion » 70 -- 4. Framing knitwear design » 72 -- 4.1. Introduction » 72 -- 4.2. A little explored research field » 73 -- 4.3. Framing the role of designers in the peculiar complexity of knitwear design process » 78 -- 4.3.1. Between garments and fabrics » 78 -- 4.3.2. Between creativity and technique » 79 -- 4.3.3. Between fashion and engineering » 80 -- 4.3.4. The issue of communication: tools for knitwear designers » 82 -- 4.3.5. Critical issues highlighted in the literature » 83 -- 4.3.6. The issue of innovation » 85 -- 4.4. Conclusion: what kind of perspective on knitwear design education? » 88 -- 3. Crossing boundaries: from the knitwear industry to design universities and return pag. 90 -- 1. Knitwear as an industrial system » 91 -- 1.1. Who needs a knitwear designer? » 91 -- 1.2. Knitwear design process: an overview » 92 -- 1.2.1. Colour and trend research » 92 -- 1.2.2. Yarns development and production » 93 -- 1.2.3. Yarns trade fairs » 96 -- 1.2.4. Research and creative design process » 98 -- 1.2.5. Design of the collection » 99 -- 1.2.6. Study of prototypes with design and pattern amendments » 107 -- 1.2.7. Pre-production samples development, selling and consolidation of orders » 109 -- 1.2.8. Production and quality control » 110 -- 1.2.9. Distribution, press and PR » 111 -- 1.2.10.Conclusions » 113 -- 1.3. The needs of knitwear industry: interviews with professionals » 114 -- 1.3.1. Critical issues as emergent needs » 115 -- 2. Knitwear as a design discipline » 136 -- 3. Conclusions » 141 -- 4. Knitwear design education: a teaching framework » 142 -- 1. A framework for knitwear design education » 143 -- 1.1. To give an overview on the existing situation » 145 -- 1.1.1. On knitwear history and contemporary scenarios » 145 -- 1.1.2. On materials » 146 -- 1.1.3. On material engineering » 146 -- 1.1.4. On management and supply chain » 146 -- 1.1.5. On the technical language of knitwear » 147 -- 1.2. To show the technological possibilities » 147 -- 1.2.1. Hand-knitting » 147 -- 1.2.2. Machine-knitting pag. 148 -- 1.2.3. Shaping » 148 -- 1.2.4. Finishes » 149 -- 1.2.5. Programming industrial machines » 149 --1.2.6. Visits to companies and fairs » 149 -- 1.3. To structure the design process » 150 -- 1.3.1. Launch of the brief » 150 -- 1.3.2. Market research, brand positioning, target profiling » 151 -- 1.3.3. Mood and concept » 151 -- 1.3.4. Sketches and collection architecture; research on yarns, textures and colours; stitches and structures development » 151 -- 1.3.5. Prototyping » 152 -- 1.3.6. Final presentation » 152 -- 2. Framework application » 153 -- 3. Findings » 161 -- 3.1. Verify the design framework » 161 -- 3.2. Verify the impact of each module on the others » 161 -- 3.3. Modelling the activities on times, contexts and participant's target » 163 -- 3.4. Experiment the added value of the involvement of a company in the teaching/learning experience » 163 -- 5. University meets the industry: experimental actions » 167 -- 1. Further perspectives on collaborative teaching in knitwear design » 168 -- 2. Pilot actions » 170 -- 2.1. Workshop with Ghioldi » 171 -- 2.2. Workshop with Filoscozia » 178 -- 2.3. DDM with MF1 » 184 -- 2.4. BA Thesis development with Ghioldi » 195 -- 3. Findings » 204 -- 6. Results and further considerations pag. 212 -- 1. Final outcomes and main results » 212 -- 2. Complemented application of the outcomes in an integrated teaching strategy » 216 -- 3. Findings and hypotheses of scalability » 216 -- 4. Conclusions » 219 -- Bibliography » 221.