Post Portland Fashion Week, Anna Cohen and Imperial Knits sit down with EcoSalon to talk DIY.

Portland Fashion Week can mark another first for their past runway season with the launch of the first ever knit-it-yourself kits come to life on the runway. With a bold turn away from traditional ready-to-wear runway designs usually featured at fashion week, the designs were created from the collaboration of heralded designer Anna Cohen, and guest designers Chrissy Gardiner and Edie Eckman along with Imperial Yarn – a branch of the Imperial Stock Ranch.

Designs varied from chunky knitted sweater dresses to knitted belts and knee high socks and illuminated the growing popularity for DIY and as Cohen says, “a very clear desire for people to go back to the roots, to the land, to simple processes that feel like home.”

“This focus on creating beautiful product and the responsibility that comes with it very much aligns with my history and commitment to helping bring high fashion and sustainability together. We are in other words, very well matched. How exciting for this relationship to bring me closer to the roots of fiber than I have ever been,” says Cohen.

DIY kits are fairly new to the scene with designers like Wool and the Gang and Alabama Chanin at the forefront, but both Cohen and Imperial Knits are ready to join the growing ranks who see using their hands as a way to become even more connected to their clothing.

Jeanne Carver, Imperial Ranch co-owner, who runs the family’s 140 year old farm with husband Dan on 30,000 acres of Oregon’s desert high country, says as far as the popularity of knitwear itself, she has seen a marked increase in the apparel and fashion world.