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Reimagining Textiles
Soort project
Textile Design, Material Research
Datum
SS26
Locatie
Shanghai
Circular knitting with paper yarns for SPINEXPO SS26.
A material study developed for SPINEXPO™ SS26 Trends, exploring the potential of Best Shan paper yarns across three textile disciplines — and a demonstration of the studio's belief that materials should adapt to the body and evolve over time. Studio Eva led the circular-knit development, alongside flatbed knitting by Rory Longdon and woven textiles by Helga Matos.
The challenge
Paper yarns are lightweight, breathable, and biodegradable — yet historically delicate, and unconventional to knit. Rooted in Japanese Washi textiles and advanced through Best Shan's Cupro Paper (a long-fibre nonwoven developed by Asahi Kasei, with a silky sheen and natural texture in blends such as Cupro Raffia), the question was how to turn a familiar, fragile material into something functional, resilient, and wearable.
The approach
Working with circular knitting at Materialliance, the yarn was developed through precise machine programming and structural adaptation — enhancing its flexibility, resilience, and texture. Using Santoni Shanghai's seamless knitting technology, paper yarns were reinterpreted for contemporary applications, from functional pieces to high-end luxury textiles. The work follows the studio's human-centred method: seamless knit engineering, auxetic structures, and carefully selected fibre blends that support the full spectrum of living — from active motion to gentle rest, from youth to ageing — with refined shaping, minimal seams, breathable zones, and gentle compression. Running the material in parallel across knit and woven disciplines tested how far its behaviour could be pushed.
The result
A set of textiles that reframe paper yarn as a high-performance fibre — soft, structural, and durable, and tuned to temperature, pressure, and individual need. Developed across circular knitting, flatbed knitting, and weaving, the project shows how collaboration between technology and craft can reinvent an unconventional material while keeping the wearer at the centre.