THE YKWU MINI REPORT
When journalist Amy Francombe asked, in the title of her Vogue article: “Are community event leaders the new influencers?”, we decided to take a moment to reflect on the contribution of YKWU. YKWU was set up as a knitting club with a mission to bring people together whilst engaging in the act of craft. What better way to understand fashion production than to knit a jumper? The club has snowballed into a life of its own as we’ve held large knit clubs across London, explored next generation yarns and hosted farm trips and courses. As we question how we experience fashion beyond mass consumption – could craft clubs be a new norm?
Scroll for a summary of what we’ve been up to or download the report below.
ykwu in numbers
+2k
members
86%
would recommend ykwu to a friend
55
designers worked with
6
locations reached
2022
YKWU launches at Tate, secures public funding from the National Lottery Community Fund, finds a home at Lab E20, and hosts its first evening knitting event at the Barbican
2023
YKWU hosts first summer outdoor event at Somerset House and features in Colèchi Journal issue I Agreenculture.
2024
YKWU wins Fashion Value Awards at The Copenhagen Fashion Awards via Centre for Sustainable Fashion. YKWU Expands Internationally to Japan, hosted by Risa Ueno. YKWU joins New Composite project via UAL, exploring next gen yarns; launches YKWU East with Westfield & East Bank, and starts retail partnership with Traid.
2025
Launch of YKWU Unravelled event series and launch of The Farm Garden exploring natural dyes, food and textiles and features at the Barbican’s Dirty Looks exhibition book.
timeline
more than a knitting club
late at barbican
Working with Young Barbican to produce an evening of knitting with drinks and a live DJ for new and existing members to connect with each other and Barbican initiatives.
summer at somerset house
Overtaking the courtyard during their summer programme and hosting all day drop-in knitting workshops. Ongoing collaboration in partnership with exhibition launches and Lates.
retail + reuse at traid
An ongoing series of sessions on a fortnightly basis within the Traid store. Increasing footfall and customer engagement on the weekend. Using excess inventory stock during the sessions in line with their mission to reuse and recycle.
talks at house of hackney
Hosting a book launch alongside a series of sold out panel discussions on the future of fashion and agriculture at their London showroom and contributing to the programming of their annual Garden of Tomorrow Festival.
national lottery community fund. ubele. service now. foundation for future london. westfield. do it now now. united st saviours.
£72k
raised to connect people with people and textile production through knitting and craft
+50
regular clubs hosted