The Pickles Knitwear Pop Up: Are We Taking The Wrong Things Seriously In Fashion?

Forget frumpy jumpers this winter, Pickles Knitwear is the small brand designing garments that make you feel authentically you. While the brand tackles significant issues commonly associated with knitwear, such as cut and shape, Pickles brings a youthful light heartedness to their clothing.  With both environmental and human sustainability at the heart of Pickles’ ethos, Founder Ella Savill talks shopping with small brands and curating her London pop-up opening November 7th.

Can you tell me a bit about your journey with knitwear so far?

It started in foundation, that was when I first ever saw a knitting machine. As a child I was really fascinated by hand knitting, I really wanted to be able to knit because my great aunt used to be this incredible knitter; I was like ‘I want to be able to do that!’ I never really learnt because my mum didn’t knit or anything, so she was never really able to teach me. Then I went to foundation and my friend was really into crochet, so I taught myself how to crochet. We started knitting together and we joined this knitting club at my foundation. It was run by this masters student who was there and she was this amazing woven artist, her work looked like woven paintings. She had a knitting machine; I was really fascinated by it. I asked her if she could give me a little demo of how it worked and so from then I was like okay now I really enjoy knitting; it’s really fascinating.

I love being able to take essentially a single string of fibre and being able to make literally whatever you want, whatever fit you want, whatever stitch types you want. The possibilities are endless, and I think that freedom, it can be quite intimidating, but that freedom is also really exciting. When you start to get on a roll with an idea it's really exciting, so I think that really fascinated me. I got into knitting and crochet a bit more and then I did textiles at Chelsea College of Art. Within first year COVID hit, so I started knitting vests for people and then a few people wanted custom ones. From there it literally just grew, I unintentionally started a brand.

Did you have a structured plan when you began, or did Pickles Knitwear evolve more spontaneously?  

No, it was honestly so organic. I was just going with the flow. I was like hey people just want customs, that's really great! I made some for my friends, and one had a pickle jar on, and I thought, ‘oh, I think I need to name this now!’ So, I named it Pickles Knitwear. It gave off the same kind of vibe, it was fun and it was a bit silly. I was trying to do elevated basics, which I still do but I think in a slightly different way from when I started.

I never really had a structured plan for Pickles Knitwear. I think in the past year and a half or two years is when I've really been trying to have a direction. Before that I was just having fun and making cute clothes.

Can you tell us a little bit about the brand's identity?

Yes, when we started it was very much ‘what's missing from my wardrobe?’ which I think it still is but I guess in a different way because my style has evolved. I started making sweater vest because I really wanted a sweater vest that wasn't frumpy and fitted well. I wanted something fun said on it or a nice image, for example I've done a really beautiful fig with a fig leaf behind it. That was my thought process when I first started it. It's evolved on the same principles, making clothes people can wear every day. They don't just have to keep them for a special occasion but they're also not your average black jumper, it’s something a bit more interesting. It feels really flattering and you feel really sexy when you're in it but you also feel cute.

With the infamous Guinness is Good For You design, I think people found it funny, it's hopefully making fashion a bit less serious. We're developing some fun scarves at the moment. I just love the silly slogans; they brighten your day. Our latest ones are ‘Me For President’ and ‘Fuck It's Cold’, if I saw someone wearing that I would have a little giggle. It would brighten your day but you’re also looking stylish while doing it. I appreciate all of the high fashion and you know it's such an inspiration, if you want to say something a bit silly every day, why not?

Can you tell us about the collections so far?

Yes of course, I'm counting as my first proper collection because it’s 17 pieces. It's quite a big body of work which I feel is my first cohesive collection. In the past I've done little capsules, my previous one was the stone capsule and that was very tonal. I think that was my start to like finding a bit of a different rhythm, but I think I went a bit too serious. This one that we've made now, it's new, but it also speaks to the older pieces for the people who were buying back in the beginning. It’s dipping a toe in both pools. Before that I did one other capsule that had slogans like ‘Dog Person’, ‘Cat Person’ and ‘Art School Dropout’.

So, it's going into this as my first proper collection that you know, has a bit of a business plan. I don't know if I'm going to do more than one collection a year. It can get quite expensive and it's just a lot of time. And we also do freelance, me and El, who I share the studio with, which also takes up quite a lot of time.

You use Italian and Scottish yarns, why did you choose these materials?

The Scottish yarn is this really beautiful lambs’ wool that is so soft. All the vests and jumpers are made out of it and they have an amazing colour range. I just love them. I've been using it for three or four years now. They’re fairly close geographically in the grand scale of things which customers prefer. Italian mills, they just have so much variety. They have really beautiful wools, it can just be expensive to import them.

We out source to Italy as Britain doesn't really have the infrastructure for wool and yarn production these days. I think a lot more production used to happen here. There are still mills, but British sheep are not very soft. So if you want something with a large variety of colours, you can't get it in the UK and if you're getting it in the UK you're getting it from a second supplier that's getting it from Italy and you’re paying the premium for it. You may as well just get from the source.

Where did the idea for a collaborative pop-up event start?

I hosted an event last winter, a Christmas pop-up. It was actually just in my house. I really wanted to do a pop-up because I think people respond really well to being able to shop in person. It's just a bit more fun for them. They get to try your pieces on and go with their friends. If people are ever unsure about sizing, they can try it on in person. The customers get the instant gratification of taking the clothing home immediately.

I've done a few markets in the past but I didn't want partake in them anymore. Three days in winter, in December, I just couldn't do it. So, I really wanted to do a pop up, but I was finding it really hard to find ones that aligned with my brand. Instead, I thought I'm just going to host my own one, I can curate it how I want, I can choose the brands I want to work with. I really enjoy curating them.

The pop-up we’re hosting this November is in a rented space this time because I wanted to explore having an event in a different area of London. I found a really great space. I went to look the other day and it's a great space. From there I started looking for brands and it's really fun discovering new amazing emerging brands. I mean, it's been a lot of hard work but really rewarding.

I can imagine it's like a lot to organize so many brands in one space.

Yeah, and I definitely wanted to do it with other brands because I think for one, people find it hard to find exciting, curated pop-ups to do in central London. It's so much pressure to do by yourself. At this point I don't want to do a pop-up by myself. It's just more fun to do it with other bands and you're all helping each other out because you're all giving each other access to your audiences. I'm really excited!

It seems like you're curating a lifestyle through having such a wide range of products at the pop up, would you agree with this?

Yes, I definitely would agree. I think that goes back to finding a pop-up that is aligned with your brand. Even one of the people who's doing my pop-up said, "Oh, I've actually never done a pop-up before because I've never really found one I've wanted to do” and they're really excited to do mine. I thought, "Okay, that's actually really flattering." I feel like that’s the same as me, I've not done that many pop-ups just because I quite like to be able to do the curation of it, design the set-up, that’s something that I’m really interested and excited by.

What do you think about the current state of the fashion industry?

The thing with that topic, it's so broad, because the fashion industry is huge. You have the big fish, the high fashion and haute couture houses. Then you have the fast fashion giants. It's still kind of crazy that they’re feeding this very fast paced world. Think back 100 years ago, they would never have been able to produce so many designs each season because there weren’t enough seamstresses to make them, or enough customers wanting to buy them. You’d buy one good coat and you would wear it for a few years. They weren't buying on the mass scale we are. Even though luxury designers aren’t doing the same as Zara, they are still producing a lot every year.

I made a 17-piece collection but wow that was exhausting! The fact that some fashion houses can produce six, seven a year and some of the designers design for two houses. I don't think it's sustainable in any way. It provokes smaller designers think, "Oh god, should I be doing that? Should I be making more?” People have lost their ability to relax and be slow. Every few months they need something new. And even that sometimes isn’t enough. I think the rise of the emerging brands who don't bring out 100 new pieces a year is important. I think that's where people need to be spending their money. Because some of the people that I know who have brands, they are making amazing clothing. Unfortunately, these designers are being put in a position where they cannot afford to create more garments because customers aren't shopping with them. I think they're not really being taken seriously which is a shame. A lot of people's perspectives of the cost of the production of clothing has been skewed because they don't see the labour that goes into it.

What impact do you hope for Pickles Knitwear to have on the industry?

I would hope it gets people to start shopping with small brands. I think that it’s definitely on the rise for sure. People shop smaller if they can afford to. I want to make a little Pickle’s world and have a nice bubble. That would be my hope.

The pop up hosted by Pickles Knitwear, featuring 15 other amazing brands, is open November 7th-10th at 32 Charlotte Road, EC2A 3PB. You can find a list of the brands that will be there, including Good Squish, on their Instagram @picklesknitwear.