Milliken – Rogue Knit
Milliken designers embrace vogue for knitwear with ‘Rogue Knit’
Milliken’s new collection is playful, adventurous and on trend; certainly a rogue of the lovable variety. ‘Rogue Knit’ is characterised by its vibrant colours and the distinctive zig-zag, chevron knit effect in its texture. Like the cherished craft-form that inspired it, Rogue Knit is highly functional and innovative as well as creative and artistic. Milliken has created a collection that takes its inspiration not only from a traditional hand-crafting activity but also from high fashion designer knitwear, with a nod also to the spontaneous and mischievous nature of knitting manifest in the current phenomenon for street knit graffiti known as ‘yarn-bombing’.
Rogue Knit reflects the current trend for the often edgy take on knitwear and appearance of knitted materials beyond the traditional sweaters and mittens. Right now designers across all categories and disciplines are exploring ways to interpret and experiment with knit and knit effects from interior furnishings to high-fashion and from hair to street style. Designers such as Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Kwangho Lee and Patricia Urquiola are embracing knitwear techniques and effects to bring a fresh look and feel to their products. And over on the catwalk the distinctive knitted chevron patterns have been a big favourite this season. Knitting has never been so cool or more popular.
While Rogue Knit has a hand-made and finely crafted appearance its production couldn’t be more hi-tech. Milliken’s advanced in-house premium tufting technology made it possible to produce the design in an impressive range of colours, all offered as standard. The range is available in a palette made up of 18 colours, half of which are bright and vibrant hues, including ‘Bobbin Glow’ and ‘Bluesky Alpaca’, and the other half highly adaptable neutrals, including ‘Sheep Dipped’ and ‘Granny Chic’. Rogue Knit has a textural construction, offering visual and tactile interest. Underfoot comfort is also assured as Rogue Knit is supplied with Milliken’s Comfort Plus 2 ® cushion backing as standard.
Rogue Knit has been designed to offer a good transition or segue connecting other Milliken designs (both solid and pattern) and providing the opportunity to delineate areas, create specific work zones or walkways and route finding paths.
As with all Milliken products Rogue Knit is carbon neutral. The Collection is produced in an ISO14001 certified facility in Wigan using ethically sourced and wherever possible, locally produced materials. Rogue Knit carpet tiles feature 90% recycled content cushion backing providing underfoot comfort, improved acoustics and superior appearance retention leading to extended product life. To further reduce its environment impact, Rogue Knit can be supplied with Milliken’s patented TractionBack® an innovative backing system that enables adhesive free installation, and therefore improves indoor air quality, speeds installation and reduces materials usage. Rogue Knit offers the added security of the following third party certifications: CRI Green Label Plus, GuT Certified and Rogue Knit with TractionBack® is eligible for LEED® points.
Some knitting facts
- Knitting is experiencing a huge surge in popularity, National Knitting Week takes place in the UK from 15th to 21st October 2014 ukhandknitting.com
- The earliest existing knitted items are socks, dating from 3-5th Century Egypt, a red pair can be seen in The Victoria & Albert Museum
- Searches for “knitting” increased by 30% in the UK in 2013 There was a 430% increase in searches for “knitting for beginners” in the last 5 years in the UK
- Celebrity knitters include Kate Moss, Cameron Diaz, Julia Roberts and Christina Hendricks
- “Yarn mobbing” (a type of knitted graffiti or street art) has a become a worldwide phenomenon, with public buildings and monuments decorated or wrapped by passionate knitters
- There are an estimated 7 million knitters in the UK alone
All images © Milliken 2014