The emerging design strength is in the ascendant

The Second “Puyuan Cup” 2017 PH Value Knitwear Designer Contest Final and Award Ceremony， sponsored by China National Textile and Apparel Council and organized by China Knitting Industry Association and the Sub-Council of Textile Industry， China Council for the Promotion of International Trade （CCPIT TEX）， was successfully held during PH Value 2017 Spring Edition.

Promising outlook of new knitted design strength

As the highlight of the 2017 PH Value Spring Edition， the Second “Puyuan Cup” 2017 PH Value Knitwear Designer Contest presented strong vitality in its preparatory stage. As we all know， the fashion design as well as the fashion field is mainly womens-wear-based； however， the contest took a new course to focus on mens wear. In the design industry， mens wear design contests always suffer less influence and visibility than the womens； however， this contest received 722 entries from 82 colleges and universities and 33 enterprises and designer offices at home and abroad in its solicit contributions， which is very rare in the field of knitted mens wear and also proves that the influence of the contest is increasing year by year.

Themed on “Zero Future”， the contest aimed at discussing the the future development of mens wear， trying to give the players full space for imagination with the illusory future concept， helping them break through the barriers of the existing mode of thinking to step out of the traditional pattern in mens wear design. On the other hand， in order to be able to make the works of the new designers completely presented， the organizing committee provided them special factory， guaranteeing the whole process from yarn to the finishing section， greatly increasing the cost performance of the works.

During the final， the competitors from more than ten universities and three enterprises demonstrated 14 groups of knitted works， some of which were featured with bold design of cross culture and gender. For example， the oversize design is used for the pursuit of male gender characteristics and the future theme， while the use of soft and thin drape yarn is to show the male hormone as well the neutral feeling.

In the use of raw materials， the players are of no restriction of any kind： for example， the first prize work “HE” makes a good use of the characteristics of wool yarn and velvet process approach， presenting an effect of rich wrinkle texture.

In the weaving process， a combination of a variety of knitted tissue structure and hand-woven process could be found in many works， showing a variety of possibilities in the knitted design of mens wear.

In terms of color， although such “safe color”for traditional mens wear as black， white， coffee color， khaki， and blue still occupied a large proportion， the breakthrough in the use of conventional cannot be underestimated： for example， the work“Colorful Dream” adopted the candy colors that break through the gender boundaries. In addition， some color changes based on the daily fabrics were also “grafted” to the knitted works. When the special treating of washing cowboy texture was applied to knitted works， giving the knitwear a feeling of the street fashionable brands.

For the significance of this contest， Yang Jichao， Vice President of China National Textile and Apparel Council & President of China Knitting Industry Association， expressed that the contest would enhance the design capabilities of the Chinese knitting industry， also a promotion for the Association to better serve the industrial clusters based on the exhibition. The contest also achieved interactions between universities and enterprises as well as among the Association， the industrial clus- ters， enterprises， and universities. “The contest is a small mirror， but what it reflects is the brand design future of Chinas knitting industry. We are expecting a more brilliant contest next year through the joint efforts of the industry.”

Local knitting design follows the international trend

In addition to the Second “Puyuan Cup” 2017 PH Value Knitwear Designer Contest， 2017 PH Value Spring Edition presented a total of 11 brand shows， three professional forums and other exciting activities.

The 11 shows prove that the new knitting trend is closely following the international Catwalk trend. The traditional material division habits are broken： the smart combination of lightweight mesh tulle and knitted material， the regular arrangement of the hollow design， as well as the design of slip at the bottom of trousers and the use of ribbon， giving the traditional impression of heavy knitted material an unprecedented light texture. In addition， the drastic asymmetric tailoring and the oversize design completely show the designersgreat familiarity with the international trend.

Based on the characteristics of spring and summer seasons， knitting techniques are mostly single-sided flat-based， without many heavy double-sided organizational structures. More highlights come from the contrast of the materials： the striped decorative sport elements show the most material collision， and the Scottish lattice is also largely used. The mix-and-match with sports brings the knitted fabrics a wider range of wearing modes， while the combination with velvet and leather also broadens the original daily wearing scope， such as evening dress. Light and bright colors are still the mainstream， but the coats are still based on red， red wine， navy blue， space gray and the earth tone such as camel and brown.