Design engineering knitted sportswear

Drawing on nine years of experience, fashion knitwear designer Jacaranda Brain has developed a broad understanding of the fashion industry’s design processes, manufacturing systems, and commercial drivers.

Through design and development roles ranging from the high street to the catwalk, she observed how decision-making is frequently driven by cost, speed, and volume. While the industry benefits from highly skilled technicians, advanced machinery, and established global supply chains, these resources are often used to support scale and efficiency rather than function-led innovation.

Increasingly frustrated by the limitations of the linear fashion model, Jacaranda began questioning how existing technologies and manufacturing systems could be used more intentionally to create products that deliver greater functional and environmental value. This curiosity became the foundation of her MSc Material and Technology Futures research at Nottingham Trent University.

Identifying a gap in the sportswear market

While sportswear was originally developed to support performance, much of today’s market has expanded into the athleisure category, where aesthetic appeal can often take precedence over technical function. This creates opportunities to reintroduce function-led design through research and innovation.

Although knitted sportswear is widely available, most products are manufactured using circular knitting technology. Flat-bed knitting offers significantly greater flexibility for research and development, enabling design engineers to manipulate stitch structures, materials, and garment construction in ways that support more targeted functional performance.

The objective of the project was therefore to investigate how weft flat-bed knitting could be used as a design-engineering tool for the development of more functional and considered sportswear.

Apparel design engineering

At the heart of the project was a material-, technology-, and functional-driven design approach. This design engineering methodology recognises that materials, technology, functionality, and design are interconnected and must be considered collectively to create meaningful innovation within knitted sportswear development.

Technical design process

As a practical learner, Jacaranda used garment development as a research method. The project followed an iterative technical design process that combined sketching, programming, sampling, testing and prototyping. Initial ideas were developed through hand sketches before being translated into knitted structures using Stoll’s M1 Plus software and a Stoll ADF flat-bed knitting machine.

Sampling became a critical part of the process. Stitch structures, yarn combinations and machine settings were repeatedly refined to better understand both the technical capabilities of the machine and the behaviour of the resulting fabric.

Rather than serving purely as a manufacturing tool, the knit programme became a technical sketchbook in which design ideas, engineering constraints, and functional requirements could be explored and refined simultaneously.

Reversible functional knit structures

Although grounded in research and technical development, it was important for Jacaranda to draw upon her design background and maintain a creative approach throughout the project. The colour palette and initial pattern inspiration were informed by the weedy sea dragon, whose distinctive colours and markings provided a starting point for the aesthetic direction of the knitted developments.

Reversible knitted structures were developed to enable different stitches and yarns to coexist on opposing sides of the same fabric. By utilising the two needle beds available on a flat-bed knitting machine, these structures can be engineered within a double-bed fabric, creating opportunities for multifunctional knitwear development.

Flat-bed knitting provides considerable creative and technical freedom. Different stitch structures can be combined within the same row while remaining reversible, allowing designers to manipulate both the visual and functional characteristics of the fabric. This enables the knits to be engineered for performance while also delivering a strong and distinctive aesthetic.

Beyond their visual and structural potential, reversible knitted structures also offer opportunities to explore functional characteristics such as moisture management within sportswear. Conventional double-bed knitted sweat-wicking fabrics typically rely on a conductive inner layer that transports moisture away from the skin and an absorptive outer layer designed to distribute and evaporate it. This led Jacaranda to investigate how yarn and stitch combinations with different performance characteristics could be engineered onto opposing sides of the fabric, creating opportunities for more targeted moisture-management systems within knitted sportswear.

Material testing and research

Most contemporary sportswear relies heavily on synthetic fibres; polyester is commonly used due to its durability and effective moisture-management properties. This research explored alternative material strategies for performance apparel, challenging both the industry’s dependence on polyester and conventional assumptions about sweat-wicking fabrics.

Material testing formed a key component of the research, allowing the performance characteristics of different knitted fabrics to be evaluated. Areas of investigation included breathability, moisture management, thermal response, mechanical properties, fabric stiffness, and drape.

Five yarns were selected to represent a spectrum of synthetic, recycled, and natural fibres with varying performance characteristics: PLA (polylactic acid), polyester, recycled polyester, merino wool, and merino-Sorona.

To investigate the influence of stitch structure on fabric performance, three stitch structures were also chosen: interlock for its density and stability, ripple for its three-dimensional surface geometry, and pointelle for its open and porous construction.

Together, these yarn and stitch combinations were used to explore how fibre composition and stitch structure interact to influence the functional characteristics of knitted sportswear fabrics.

Interconnected Systems

Conventional sweat-wicking fabrics are typically designed to transport moisture away from the skin as quickly as possible. In contrast, wider literature on merino wool highlights an alternative approach, characterised by higher moisture absorption and slower moisture movement, which may offer benefits by supporting thermoregulation and promoting a more holistic wearer experience. This alternative perspective informed material exploration throughout the project, with observations from the material testing process aligning with these characteristics.

The research highlighted the importance of viewing performance apparel as an interconnected system rather than through individual metrics alone. Taken collectively, material testing, technical development, programming constraints, and preliminary wearer trials informed design decisions throughout the project, reinforcing the value of a systems-based approach to knitted sportswear development.

Prototype development

The research informed the development of several knitted prototypes, including a reversible sports bra concept, performance shorts, and a knitted running bag.

The sports bra prototype became a platform for exploring how material selection, knit programming, and garment engineering could be integrated. Through reversible stitches and zonal engineering, material properties could be strategically positioned throughout the garment to support varying functional requirements, including support, moisture management, and breathability. Although still at an early stage of research and development, the concept demonstrates the potential of combining programming data with material behaviour to create fabrics that balance multiple performance requirements while simultaneously delivering a distinctive visual aesthetic.

Design Engineering Systems Framework

Perhaps the most significant outcome of the MSc was the development of a Design Engineering Systems Framework. The model visualises the relationship between research, materials, technology, and design, supporting a more integrated approach to knitted sportswear development. It also incorporates wider considerations relating to people, planet, and prosperity, reflecting the need to balance sportswear innovation with environmental and social responsibility. Within the framework, prosperity extends beyond commercial profit to include learning, innovation, collaboration, and the development of future opportunities. As an early-stage R&D framework, it acknowledges that future manufacturing and commercial opportunities remain important considerations, while recognising that meaningful innovation often emerges through research and experimentation.

Future directions

While this article focuses on one aspect of the research, the MSc explored a much broader range of topics, including braiding, silicone applications, package dyeing, garment construction, materials research, and manufacturing processes.

The project was intentionally multidisciplinary, with each area contributing to a wider investigation into how knitwear, technology, and design engineering can support more thoughtful approaches to sportswear development.

More broadly, the research represents a shift in Jacaranda’s practice from traditional fashion design toward design engineering and sportswear R&D. Rather than focusing solely on products, the project explores how research, technology, and systems thinking can create more meaningful innovation within the knitwear industry.

The above content is reproduced from“Knitting Industry”

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