SA fashion industry goes Dutch
A new partnership with the Dutch embassy and circular textiles ambassadors aims to improve sustainability and accelerate local fashion production.
SAFIA has secured funding in collaboration with Flinders University’s Factory of the Future, national clothing stewardship scheme Seamless and Dutch clothing studio Knitwear Lab to combine circular production skills with South Australia’s textile manufacturing capabilities.
The program will involve an inbound residency and masterclass from Knitwear Lab in line with the opening of Flinders’ Digital Pathway Knit Studio and the development of SAFIA’s circular textiles symposium in partnership with Green Industries SA.
It is being overseen by Angela Russo, Professor of Fashion and Advanced Manufacturing at the Factory of the Future, with research development co-led by Associate Professor Dirk Van Rooy.
Digital or virtual knitting combines digital design software and physical knitting with computer-controlled machines to create clothes directly from yarn.
It involves machines knitting in a circle to create clothes in three dimensions at once, rather than knitting separate panels which are then stitched together to create a garment.
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The practice can allow for innovative new designs, expedite creation and improve the breathability and sustainability of knitwear.
SAFIA Board Chair Dr Nathan James Crane says it is exciting to see foreign recognition of “two different industries from two different countries, working towards the same goal.”
“What it’s really doing is highlighting the capability and the area of leadership that we can have as an industry here and really own that advanced manufacturing or what we call sovereign manufacturing capability,” he says.
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“This is very much an upskilling of South Australian designers to then be able to use the technology to its fullest possibility.”
The program is operating under the Dutch Embassy’s Cultural Cooperation Call for Proposals 2026, which provides funding for cultural projects that promote cooperation between the two countries and encourages sustainability within creative industries.
“I think what is most exciting about it is that it allows designers to work on that quite literally homespun opportunity, so that they can actually produce in South Australia,” Nathan says.
“It can absolutely open up other opportunities or other capabilities for them within the business or open up the opportunity to produce in South Australia, which might have flow-on effects for their brand.”
The program sits under SAFIA’s Circular Fashion Initiative, which offers masterclasses, workshops, consulting and toolkits to businesses to improve sustainability within the fashion industry.
A 2024 report by Seamless found that improving production efficiency by just 5 per cent could reduce emissions by more than 225,000 tonnes.
“We’re working with Green Industries [SA] on really upskilling designers on the concept of circular design, which is all about the amount of product that’s being used and that wastage,” Nathan says.
“For example, you’re essentially optimising your use of the textile because you’re knitting an entire garment in all dimensions, rather than panels that potentially have to be cut or manipulated.
“The theory being that you’re then optimising the use of that fibre and not overproducing.”
The residency will feature at SAFIA’s symposium, with a public studio session for designers, students and manufacturers as part of the program, with program dates, participation opportunities and visiting practitioners yet to be announced.
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