Sustainable British Charl Knitwear inspired by Norfolk

The story has long fascinated knitwear designer Frankie Davies, who grew up in the county and learned about it on school trips to Cromer Museum.

During her career, she has worked for Benetton and Burberry, with her designs featured on magazine covers and worn by supermodels Kate Moss.

And when she decided to create her own collection of sustainable and timeless knits, which are designed to be loved and worn for years, she looked to Norfolk's traditional knitwear for inspiration.

I always knew I wanted to be a knitwear designer,” says Frankie, founder of Charl Knitwear. “My earliest memories are of drawing pictures of girls with striped socks and jumpers.” 

Frankie went to the Hewett School in Norwich where she was taught art and textiles by Mrs Goldsmith and then went to Norwich University of the Arts to study for an art foundation specialising in textiles. 

She then got a place on the fashion design degree course at Kingston University, where she specialised in knitwear design. 

“I loved the humour in the knitwear department – quite different from the precision in the tailoring room,” she says. “Things rarely go to plan when you’re knitting, so we all developed a resilience, not dissimilar to the atmosphere in the Bake Off tent.”  

“Knitwear is particularly appealing to me because it not only involves creating the shape of the garment, but also the fabric, whether it be stripes, cables or ribs. You can be a textile and fashion designer rolled into one,” she continues. 

“What really interests me about knitwear design is that you can knit meaning into the garment through the stitches, tension and colour, so the pieces are almost telling a story whilst you’re wearing them. 

“I also love the tactile qualities of knitwear, it can be almost sculptural in the way it covers the body, I like big chunky ribbed collars that stand up on their own, or long fluted sleeves that can be very flattering even on a chunky knit.” 

When she graduated, Frankie went to work for a knitwear design studio in Milan. She was there for two years and was then offered a job designing knitwear for the Benetton Group in Treviso. 

“I absolutely loved it because I got to work directly with the knitting machinists and technicians,” she says. 

“This was a magical time for me – because I was working with some truly expert knitters, nothing was impossible.” 

She stayed at Benetton for three years and was then headhunted to come back to the UK and design for Burberry in London. 

“Burberry was a really exciting place to work, because this was just when the brand was becoming popular,” says Frankie. 

“I designed front cover pieces and my knitwear was worn by Kate Moss and other supermodels.” 

After nearly eight years designing for Burberry, Frankie decided to take a year out and study for an MA in museum studies back in Norwich at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts 

"It has always been one of my most favourite galleries in the world and I absolutely loved my time there. I also worked as a curatorial fellow and helped to curate several exhibitions, including the Anderson Collection of Art Nouveau,” she says.  

“It was here that I began to think about the importance of cultural history and how important it is to keep people’s stories alive. The challenge for museum curators is how to keep their permanent collections engaging for their visitors year in year out and there’s no easy solution to this. I thought about the Sainsbury Centre and how they are constantly mixing things up and rearranging their exhibits to get visitors to look at them in a new way, and this is where the idea for my own collection came from.” 

And she didn’t have to look far from home for inspiration. 

“I knew about the Cornish fishing frocks and the Scottish and Irish Arans but I’d always thought that not enough was made of the Norfolk Gansey jumpers which I remembered seeing on school trips to Cromer Museum,” she says.  

“I wanted to study them inside and out, to really understand their construction and the stitches that they used, in a way that I had never had time to when working for other brands. 

“I found that there was so much symbolism knitted into these jumpers and the construction was so beautiful that I soon became hooked! But what surprised me was the amount of material which still exists around the fishermen, their lives and their families. For me, it is the stories together with the jumpers which make the Gansey knits so special.  

“At the same time, I discovered the exceptional photographer, Olive Edis, a pioneering female British photographer who had a studio in Sheringham. She produced a collection of photographs of the Norfolk fishermen for the Festival of Britain which are so exquisite that you can see every wrinkle on the fishermen’s faces and every stitch in their jumpers. 

“I knew that if I was going to create my own collection, the idea behind it had to have a meaning, 'a soul'. I didn’t want these to be 'just another jumper' to be discarded after a year or two. I wanted them to be special, treasured pieces that people really loved wearing, and which were passed down through the generations, just as the original Gansey jumpers were.” 

Frankie also designs fishermen’s socks, scarves, hats, leg-warmers and wrist-warmers.  

When she’s designing any collection, she begins with the yarn

“I always try to be led in shape and design by the material because knitwear will naturally tend towards certain weights, stitches and shapes,” she explains. 

“If you force it into something difficult, it rarely works out. I always create a mood board to refer back to, both for 'mood' and colour, but also for design details.  

“Then I begin swatching on my own knitting machine at home in my studio. I’ll have a rifle through my knit archive for particular stitch techniques, to help me explain to my factories what I’m trying to achieve, then last of all, with the correct knit swatch in hand, I’ll sketch into my design. With design in hand, I’ll visit my factory - I have one in Nottinghamshire and one in Perugia, Italy - and from there we will begin work on the first prototype. Once the prototype is perfect, the factory will start knitting my production pieces.” 

And sustainability is at the heart of what she does. 

“After completing my MA, I moved back to Italy (Turin) and started my own design consultancy, working for small UK brands like Studio Nicholson.  

“For some time, I had been trying to encourage my freelance clients to consider using more sustainable materials, but it felt like no one was ready to take the leap at that time.  

“Naturally, when I began designing for my own collection, I wanted to use the most sustainable options available, which started with British wool – a massively under-utilized natural resource, literally on our doorstep.  

“This has not been an easy option because the UK wool industry is far less developed than for example, the Australian, New Zealand and South African merino wool industries. I knew that with my experience, I could really work at the handle and softness of the wool to make it soft enough for my customers and I could create flattering and modern shapes that hadn’t been available in British wool before.” 

Although she doesn’t currently live in Norfolk, Frankie and her husband, who she describes as 'a Norfolk boy through and through' regularly come back to Norwich to visit their family.  

Charl Knitwear is named after Frankie’s sister, Charlotte. 

“I have a lot of favourite places that I visit when I come home: the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, the University Broad and medieval Norwich around St Benedict’s Street, Elm Hill and Norwich Cathedral. Out of town, I love Blickling and Felbrigg Halls, Holt - Norfolk Natural Living are my exclusive stockis - but out on the coast is where I love it the most.  

“We recently stayed in Cley, at the George and Dragon, where you can walk out into the salt marshes and watch the migrating birds. It’s the most peaceful place in the world,” she says. 

Since launching Charl Knitwear, Frankie has had mentions in the Financial Times, The Times, Red Magazine and Country Living, and her pieces are loved by Instagram influencers including @mathildawears. 

“I’ve had some lovely write-ups,” she says. “But for me now, what gives me the most pleasure is when I receive notes from my customers telling me how much they love wearing their Charl pieces, how they make them feel, and how much joy they bring.” 

To see more visit charlknitwear.co.uk or follow on Instagram @charlknits