Conceived by Gerard Rubio, Kniterate is a digital knitting machine that democratizes the hierarchy of clothing manufacturing allowing anyone to create high quality personalized garments and accessories, through 3D design.
Kniterate
With Kniterate – the first textile 3D printer that manifacures garments through digital design – the fashion industry opens up to a new era of customization and distribution.
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- 28 April 2017
- London
It is the textile version of a 3D printer, that uses yarn to “print” digital clothing files. Via an easy-to-use internet platform, users can design garments from scratch, edit templates or upload their own images and press ‘knit’. It provides a tool that makes these kind of bespoke services more affordable for both the consumer and the maker. It is meant for workshops of independent designers, makerspaces, libraries or as part of the in-store experience of retailers.
Kniterate has hundreds of needles that are computer controlled to create loops, which combined create knitwear. The needles move in mesmerizing waves, back and forth, knitting fabrics into shapes. These can be ready to use, like scarves and beanies, or may require assembly, like a sweater. Launched on Kickstarter, it reached it’s goal in just one hour. Kniterate was born to change the current supply chain model of the garment industry. At the moment retailers ship garments half across the world and end up with excess stock, which then they are forced to mark down, or even worse, throw away. With Kniterate clothing is made locally and on demand, and because it’s made to shape there’s no waste due to cutting fabrics.
Kniterate
Design: Gerard Rubio, Triambak Saxena, Tom Catling
Year: 2017