The goal of Adidas’ ambitious Knit for you project was the production of customised clothing locally and by everyone, nothing more and nothing less. It combined a store with a miniature factory, allowing customers to have their very own personalised sweater knitted. There was a wide diversity of design possibilities within the set framework, and production took only a few hours. It was done directly in the pop-up store, on STOLL flat knitting machines that produced 3D flat knits in an automated ready-to-wear process.
Adidas investigated the manufacturing potential behind digitalisation as well as customers’ needs for individualisation through its Storefactory activities. It launched at the end of 2016 and ended in March 2017. my TEXTILE NEWS editor Ulrike Schlenker wanted to know how the market and production technology for 3D knitted fabrics for immediate use have developed since then, so she asked an expert: Michael Händel, Vice President Sales & Service at KARL MAYER STOLL Textilmaschinenfabrik GmbH.