High Fiber
* Contemporary knitwear company Qi launched in 2002 with a mission to source the next big thing in luxury yarn every season — which means that Qi’s signature luxe cashmere can be imported from Italy or harvested from as far away as Mongolia. The easy-to-wear, cozy-yet-cool sportswear pieces have been given a retro rock-girl treatment.
“I was inspired by Stevie Nicks’ ethereal personal style and the concept of being a world traveler with layering and combining textures to create a modern gypsy look,” says design director Karina Mazzilli, who studied knitwear at the Fashion Institute of Technology and previously worked for Seventh Avenue heavyweights Donna Karan and Zac Posen.
Cashmere cardigan, $188, at qicashmere.com, and dress, $162, at The Red Pearl, 202 Bedford Ave. Brooklyn; 718-599-0023
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Edgy Woolens
* Founded by Phillip Leeming, who hails from the UK, and Leong Ong, from Malaysia, Falls’ design team splits its time between upstate New York, where they’ve converted a stable into a design studio, and the East Village, where the duo has lived for 10 years. Known for their luxe-with-a-twist aesthetic and using tissue-weight cashmere, Leeming and Ong drape every sweater as if they were working with a woven fabric. “A lot of our references come from vintage 1930s and ’40s couture,” Leeming and Ong told The Post. “We strive to achieve the same kind of detailing and drape with an updated twist in every piece. Our goal is to get these details, washes and quality while still maintaining attainable prices.”
Vest, $265 at Diane T, 174 Court St., Brooklyn, 718-923-5777
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Luxe Alpaca
* Inspired by her Aunt Hortensia, a master knitter, Michelle Peglau started Hortensia Handmade five years ago with her mother and another knitter. The company specializes in knit-cessories — such as hats, scarves, gloves and capes — handcrafted from 100 percent Peruvian alpaca, an exceptionally light, rare, hypo-allergenic wool harvested from domesticated alpacas living 10,000 to 14,000 feet above sea level.
“Rajas” beret, $158, at Henri Bendel
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Cable Cuffs
* In 2006, Elizabeth Yarborough gave up a promising book-editing career to pursue arts and crafts full time, hand-fashioning miniature food-motif rings, leather button jewelry, chipped china necklaces and yarn and knit bangles in her East Village studio apartment. Four years on, she’s achieved some serious fashion street cred: Her line Yarborough is sold at downtown store-du-jour Opening Ceremony and uptown mainstay Bergdorf Goodman and has seen coverage in major glossies such as Vogue, Vanity Fair and W.
Hand-knit cashmere bangles, $130 to $180 at shopyarborough.com
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Thick Threads
* AVID knitter Wenlan Chia can finish an entire sweater on a flight between New York and LA! She launched Twinkle by Wenlan, a line of super-chunky knitwear in 2000, but made her runway debut at 2002’s Gen Art Fresh Faces of Fashion show during New York Fashion Week. Today, her line, which now includes accessories, jewelry and home furnishings — much of which is made from her own brand of yarn (from $6.95 a skein at classiceliteyarns.com) — is sold in more than 350 stores around the world, including Anthropologie and Nordstrom.
On Wenlan: Fingerless gloves, $48; hoodie sweater, $258; and scarf, $146, available at twinklebywenlan.com.
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Bangle Bags
* Working out of her Upper West Side home, designer Nicole Dreyfuss’ 6-year-young hand-knit handbag company, Margaret Nicole, produces charming and whimsical totes, clutches and bangle-handled bags in virgin wool and cotton. Her signature bangle bags are lined in pink cotton and feature colorful, interchangeable grosgrain ribbon adornments.
Dreyfuss’ handbag collection, priced at $150 and up, is available at margaretnicole.com
