Sarah Kalum on Chic, Sustainable Knitwear

Meet Sarah Kalum, the Danish designer changing the knitwear game one sweater at a time. What was once just a Covid-lockdown past time has now exploded into a cult following on a small but loyal corner of the internet, with audiences clawing at Kalum’s comment section for commissions, or even, a unique line of sustainable knitwear.

Dark stormy colour palettes, tribal patterns and cropped silhouettes characterise the designs of Kalum that has utterly captivated her following. After braving Instagram DMs and approaching Sarah, I had the opportunity to chat with her about her background as an artist, her clothes and the outpour of support she has received over the years.

Hey Sarah! Could you tell our G.URLs a bit about yourself? Where are you based?

I’m a full-time anthropology student living in Copenhagen, Denmark. Although I’m often mistaken for being younger, I’m actually 23 – a mix-up I like to think of as an investment for when I turn 30. I grew up in a row house about 30 minutes by train from Copenhagen, with two parents, two brothers and two dogs.

 How did you first get into making your own clothes?

From 2018 to 2021, you could see me wearing ill-fitting tops and skirts with raw, often unravelling hems – these were my first sewing projects from scratch. Without overlinking my fraying sewing and my current knitting interest, I think the possibility of drafting something customised to my own body stuck with me.

You knit all your designs, is this something you completely taught yourself?

The credit for both my knitting ability and my self-drafting interest goes to my mum. During a holiday I decided I wanted to knit a sweater. We went yarn and pattern shopping, but when we got home the sweater turned out to be a top-down knit. My mum – who is from the bottom-up generation – tossed the pattern aside, measured my body, drew a simple schematic and showed me how easy self-drafting can be. Since then, I’ve supplemented my knitting knowledge with YouTube videos.

Unfortunately, I’ve lost my first sweater – so if someone out there owns a light-blue wool sweater with many mistakes, it might be mine.

Are there any specific artists or designers that inspire you? Or, even beyond fashion, is there anything else you draw inspiration from?

Admittedly, I’m not very culturally knowledgeable. I think people, Pinterest, paintings and almost anything else can inspire me. I’m rarely very conscious of it, and often my initial idea looks very different from the finished garment (most of the time intentionally).

Your clothes have gained immense popularity online and you’ve gained a small cult following, is this something you ever expected when you first started?

My online presence has been a post-by-post thing without any master plan, and therefore without any expectations. But I’m glad I had the slightly delusional self-confidence to start posting, because everyone commenting and writing to me has been incredibly kind.

In the future, are you looking to do commissions or sell your designs?

In my room, I have a clothing rack that has become unstable from the weight of my knitted and crocheted projects. I often look at it with slight embarrassment, because there is nothing sustainable about my sweater-to-human ratio. So, at some point I’ll have to sell, share, or unravel some projects; but I’m not ready to say goodbye to them yet.

However, I am working on a self-drafting guide that I hope to finish before the end of the year. Working on it has forced me to improve my technical understanding of knitwear so that I can hopefully say something useful.

Besides creating incredible knitwear you’re also a talented artist, did you ever formally study art?

First, thank you! I haven’t formally studied art, but I’ve spent many hours on YouTube trying to improve. Just like many people started knitting during Covid, my interest in drawing is a corona hobby that stuck. I think my drawings show more about my willingness to invest time than about technical ability.

Your drawings are mesmerizingly realistic, focusing on the body whilst taking on warped or disfigured elements, is this something that ever crosses over into your clothing?

My grandmother always refers to my drawings as “slightly scary”. While I don’t think my knits are scary, my colour palette and motifs probably wouldn’t be described as cheerful either. This has never been a conscious choice – instead, I often find myself uninterested in making anything else. It’s something I’d like to challenge more in the future.

Why do you think audiences are so drawn to your work?

Colour-block knitting is time-consuming, so my best guess is that people appreciate the effort that goes into it. But it’s a good question, since it’s definitely not my radiating colour palette catching their eye.

How do you see your knitwear evolving? Are there any other garments you’d like to try and create? Now that we’re coming into winter I’d love to see a hat!

For over a year, I’ve wanted to knit a dress. The intention is there, but the time isn’t always. I’ve made plenty of socks and simple handwarmers for the Danish winters, but other accessories – like a hat – would be great too. I actually save all my leftover yarn ends for wet felting, though so far, I’ve only made a small square. Maybe a felted hat would be the perfect combination!

Also, I’ve officially banned myself from knitting in shades of grey on grey.

For more stunningly chic knitwear, you can follow Sarah on Instagram: @kaaalum.