Circle of Friends: Anne Warren of Next Season
how to give your sweaters a secondlife, inspiration from Old Céline, where to mend your knits in time for Fall and a pop-up this weekend
Circle of Friends stoop series shares the stories of those keeping resources in circulation in very cool ways, but often we need more than the 90 seconds allotted to a reel to really see the process. This week’s guest is Anne Warren, the founder of Next Season, a circular knitwear brand, that takes end of life sweaters, unravels them, and turns them into new pieces.
Anne Warren spent the last 10 years designing consumer software experiences and wondering how she could combine her love for fashion with her early-stage tech startup expertise and mechanical engineering background.
Intrigued by the circular economy, she decided to take a hands-on approach to investigate circularity by knitting new sweaters out of existing materials and writing about it in a weekly newsletter, “Anne’s Circular Knitting Journey”.
In what felt like a natural extension of this project, Anne recently launched Next Season - a knitwear brand that produces one-of-a-kind pieces, made solely out of textile ‘waste’ and deadstock materials.
Watch our stoop series conversation here!
What is your origin story of how you began knitting new sweaters from the yarns of pre-loved sweaters?
I’ve loved fashion since I was a kid - from ‘sourcing’ unique pieces (I was shopping on eBay in high school) to dabbling in making my own clothes. Early on in the pandemic I picked up knitting, and never thought it’d develop beyond a hobby.
In 2023 I was feeling particularly disenchanted with the software tech world - I was drawn to the idea of working on a ‘physical’ product or process, maybe a startup in the growing ‘sustainable materials’ space a la mushroom (mycelium) leather.
In August the startup I worked at pivoted, and I was laid off - I knew this was my opportunity to make a shift into fashion, specifically sustainable fashion. I spent a lot of the Fall networking and learning about interesting people, companies, and products in this (broad) space. And in between meetups, events, and interviews, I was spending a lot of my free time knitting! I actually had the specific idea to unravel and re-knit sweaters after attending a food packaging circularity panel with a friend. I was loosely familiar with concepts of circularity, and was very drawn to the idea / challenge of ‘remanufacturing’. I’d already made sweaters incorporating bits of scrap yarn, so why not go further and unravel old sweaters. I loved the idea of exploring circularity through a hands-on project, and started the newsletter to document & share my experience.
What has unraveling old sweaters taught you about clothing construction and how to design for longevity?
For context, right now I’m unraveling and re-knitting everything myself, using a ‘domestic’ knitting machine. I learned machine knitting in January at the Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn. I have a little bit of pattern making experience (I took a patternmaking for sewing class at FIT a few years back, just for fun) but have never developed my own knitting patterns before now.
So, deconstructing & unraveling old sweaters has definitely helped me get better at machine knitting and pattern making! Most of our store bought sweaters are made with machines and patterns that are functionally very similar to mine - just operating on a much larger scale (& automated).
You shared during our stoop conversation that you mostly source at Goodwill and FabScrap, when you are sourcing, what types of pre-loved sweaters are you looking for? Are there specific materials that you hunt for?
I don't have a formal decision process, but there are a handful of factors I take into consideration when I source. First is actually yarn thickness - the main knitting machine I use is designed for mid to chunkier weight yarns, so that’s a quick filter. Then I look at the color - what colors do I need to realize my current collection? What colors am I excited about combining? Yarn / fiber condition is important too - sweaters with holes are totally fine, but I don’t think I’d buy anything that was pilling or shedding a lot. Material composition will probably surprise you - I’m definitely happy to find and source natural fibers, but I’m also happy to source synthetics. The way I see it, synthetics and synthetic blends make up the majority of sweaters bound for landfill - so they’re the ones that we need solutions for!
Do you have a vintage piece, from your own closet or another designer that you are inspired to knit something similar?
I’m very inspired by knitter / knitwear designer Laerke Bagger. I came across her IG account in May 2020 and it single-handedly inspired me to start knitting. She does a lot with yarn scraps, and her work is really fun & colorful. I basically bought knitting needles within a week of discovering her account.
Another inspiration is this Old Céline sweater I bought on TheRealReal a few years back. It gave me the idea of ‘blending’ different yarns together, which creates a lot of interesting and beautiful texture and color combinations.
I know you enjoy creating mood boards, do you have one for the upcoming collection you can give us a sneak peek at?
If someone has sweaters they are no longer wearing, or maybe need mending, what do you suggest they do with those?
If you’re feeling bold, Next Season does custom sweater re-designs - we can fully unravel your sweater and reuse the yarn to make you something ‘new’ and one-of-a-kind!
If you’re looking to repair small holes / damage, there are a few mending experts /services I follow and have been meaning to try out:
Where can we find Next Season?
We’ll be at Rue Saint Paul in Cobble Hill on Saturday September 21st - come say hi!
