DESIGNER SPOTLIGHT: JULIE WILLGEROTH OF KNITWIT

West Coast label Knitwit brings comfort, style and luxe together with its eco-friendly collection.

California – When Knitwit says “wear what you eat,” it means it. The Newport Beach-based label features pieces that blend 85% soybean with 15% cashmere. Knitwit also uses “tofu” cashmere — an eco-friendly fabric that uses a renewable natural resource of unused protein of like soybean oil, tofu or soymilk product as a raw material — for several pieces in the extremely soft line.

But fashionistas wanting fun pieces don’t have to worry about looking prim and proper when it comes to wearing cashmere. Knitwit makes sure to infuse “a little sass” in the design — from zipped hoodies in bright, animal prints to camouflage crew sweaters and reversible wraps. You want comfort and style in your everyday wear? Knitwit has it for you. No wonder stars like Oscar winner Penelope Cruz, television personality Maria Menounos, Grammy winner Christina Aguilera, and Gilmore Girls star Alexis Bledel are fans of the label. Read on for our exclusive interview with Knitwit’s designer Julie Willgeroth, who briefly worked at Geffen records before launching the cashmere line in Spring 2006.

Could you tell us how you got your start in designing clothing?

I am a self-taught designer and my degree in English from UCLA didn’t help further my fashion dream, but I did learn a lot living in Los Angeles about emerging fashion trends,  While living in LA, I was free to explore my sense of style and individuality and would often make my own clothes when I couldn’t find what I needed in the boutiques. After college I started buying vintage heat transfers and heat pressing them onto cashmere in my garage. As soon as I had perfected the technique with the glittery transfers and screenprinting techniques, I walked into a New York City boutique (owned by the now defunct girlshop.com) and got my first account.

How did you come up with the name for your label?

The name actually came first before anything else was established. It started out with witty sayings on sweaters — like “What if the hokey pokey really is what it’s all about?” — and vintage graphics on sweaters. It’s literally a play on words, witty knitted sweaters or “Knitwit”, as opposed to “nitwit” which isn’t clever at all.

Were there any challenges or issues you faced in trying to establish Knitwit?

Finding the right mix of styles to make the collection cohesive and accessible for women of all ages has always been challenging. I like to take risks with my looks but there has to be a unique marriage of practicality and individuality to appeal to my demographic.

You have quite the list of celebrities who love your label, but we like to know what magazines has featured Knitwit?

We were recently featured in the March issue of Lucky Magazine, Life & Style (January), People Style Watch (December), Glamour (December), In Touch (September), Lucky (September), as well as a few other local magazines like Coast.

In five years from now, how would you like to see Knitwit expand?

We are branching out to being eco-friendly with our soybean and cashmere blend. We would like to offer a variety of eco-cashmere blends in the future and expand into the children’s market and launch a men’s collection. We did a men’s collection exclusively for Kitson. We want everyone to be able to wear Knitwit.

You seem to be breaking the classic mold of cashmere by adding a bit of fun in the designs so as a designer what are the typical fashion rules you would want people to break?

All of them! Your purse and shoes don’t have to match, nor do your socks and belt. Everyone is unique, there are no rules.

Lastly, what do you do to unwind from a stressful day at the design studio?

Wine!

A girl who likes to break style rules and unwind with wine? We don’t know about you but Julie sounds like are kind of girl. To check out more from the designer visit shopknitwit.com.

Images Courtesy of Knitwit