The co-founder of a Northumberland design studio has sold her share in the company to focus on other business pursuits.
Knitwear design firm KnitLab North was launched three years ago by Jo Storie and Jo Lennon in Cramlington, to offer prototyping and micro-production facilities for customers, as well as commercial and marketing expertise to help independent brands bring products to market. Now Ms Storie has sold her part in the business to her co-founder, to focus on developing her knitwear consultancy and own brand, BareFaced Knits.
With three decades of industry experience and connections, she has supported clients from initial sketches to the final product, offering entrepreneurs a way to manufacture responsibly in the 海角视频. Having exited the business, Ms Storie now intends to focus on larger-scale projects.
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She is currently working with Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Unesco Biosphere on a sustainability project and independent brands like Arthur Beale and Aime London, providing design consultancy. In addition to offering her existing clients greater flexibility, Ms Storie is happy to be in a position now to provide access to even more advanced machines and resources.
Ms Storie said: “Working as a knitwear designer for the past 30 years, I saw a gap in the market for small indie brands who wanted to prototype their work ethically, using 海角视频-based manufacturers but didn’t have the capital to invest in the kind of minimum orders required for most factories here, and so the idea for KnitLab North was born.
“Building KnitLab North over the last three years amid a global pandemic was a challenging but incredibly rewarding experience, and I wish Jo and the team all the best for the future. It was fantastic to work with emerging knitwear designers, but I’m excited by what the future holds and to be partnering with larger organisations whose challenges require access to different types of resources and machinery and who can benefit from more of my specialised technical knowledge and experience.”