Meet Dainty Knit, the Seoul

Jun 14, 2023

In May, Dainty Knit founder Rebecca uploaded a TikTok to her brand's account with the following caption: "I moved to Korea, started my business & this happened." The "this" in question is no biggie, just a summary of how she's taken the brand from an obscure find to an emerging cult favorite in just two years. Since launching Dainty Knit, Rebecca's colorful designs have been spotted on global It girls — from Emma Chamberlain to HyunA — and she has gone on to work with some of the most influential stylists in the K-pop industry, creating custom pieces for superstars like NMIXX's Lily and Jiwoo, the members of StayC, XG's Chisa, and most recently, SHINee.

Contrary to her vibrant creations, Rebecca is soft-spoken in person, a petite wallflower by nature. "I'm actually quite shy," she tells Teen Vogue over Zoom from her Seoul studio. As a result, she lets her clothes do the talking. "I always express myself through fashion," she says with a soft Liverpool lilt. "Having my own brand has allowed me to really showcase that. If your outfit can speak for you, I think that's a job well done."

Growing up in the coastal city of northwest England, Rebecca's interest in fashion bloomed early. She embraced whimsy and fairytale femininity from childhood, often wearing pastel dresses, bows, ribbons, and anything that reminded her of "princesses and fairies and mermaids" to school. She recalls feeling especially drawn to Sleeping Beauty because "her dress changed colors."

Rebecca is the youngest of five — her twin sister is 18 minutes older — in a working-class family, which meant money was tight so she'd often recreate clothing and accessories she saw in television advertisements. She'd cut up old clothes and sew scraps of fabric to make new outfits for her Bratz dolls. She taught herself how to sew, pulling the biscuit tin of supplies from the cupboard and sitting in her room for hours threading needles and perfecting stitches.

When college came around, Rebecca studied visual arts and oil painting before switching to textiles, where she developed an enviable eye for mixing materials. At the suggestion of a teacher, she learned to knit. "I was really struggling with tailoring," Rebecca says. "Getting the correct fit of something when you don't have access to really good fabrics is quite difficult." With limited resources, she looked to her family for help. "My grandma taught me to knit, and then my auntie helped me with crochet." Beyond the basics of fashion design — pattern-making, sewing, twilling — Rebecca gravitated to knitting since she feels it is a more accessible medium as “you don't need expensive yarn to learn how to knit or crochet.”

Naturally, Rebecca honed her distinctive design aesthetic through knitting, which she describes as "fun and quite carefree." Think crochet sleeves, mini dresses, delicate leg warmers, mohair kitty bonnets, balaclavas, and variegated patterns. She's most influenced by the exuberant fashion of the 1960s, from Piet Mondrian dresses to Mary Quant's revolutionary miniskirts, patterned tights, and skinny rib sweaters.

Even though she's looking to the past for inspiration, Rebecca's main goal with her designs is to make something as timeless as a knit feel modern and fresh. In 2021, she moved to Seoul and started Dainty Knit. Her one-of-a-kind pieces attracted consumers looking for something unique and handmade. "They like to stand out; they like to look different," Rebecca says of her customers. "Anyone can wear my clothes, any gender, any age, so I never want to say youthful."

The playfulness and effervescence of her work shortly caught the attention of Chamberlain's stylist, Jared Ellner. The content creator is known for her love of thrifted finds and eclectic individual style, often showcasing emerging brands and designers. After appearing on Chamberlain's IG grid, Dainty Knit caught the attention of some of the top K-pop stylists, now her main turf.

Whether they're looking to ride the Y2K wave or need custom pieces to match an artist's sartorial idiosyncrasies, K-pop stylists come to Rebecca with a vision or an idea, and she'll work with them on custom designs. For SHINee's latest comeback, the studio album HARD, Rebecca received a request from their stylist for a batch of custom orders. At the time, she was in England visiting family and had such a short window of time to turn all the items around that she was still knitting balaclavas for the members of SHINee and their dancers on her flight back to Seoul. She went straight to the stylist's studio from the airport. "Because they needed them for that day," she explains. "So that was crazy." Only Key and the dancers ended up wearing Rebecca's designs in the final assets, but the ride was more than worth it for her.

One of the first things Rebecca learned in Seoul is that if she wanted her business to be successful, she would have to acclimate to South Korea's "빨리 빨리" culture — pronounced "ppali ppali," which translates to hurry up or quickly — where chop-chop is a way of life. "If you don't adapt, especially to the work ethic, I feel like you just fall behind," she says. "I'm very committed. You have to be if you want to get those opportunities. You have to be willing to do anything." Anything and everything. Rebecca is a one-woman team, handling the brand's design, production, styling, social media management, and e-commerce. Her newly-launched website, daintyknit.com, finally allows customers to purchase her designs more easily.

The grind can be daunting, especially when knitting a single sweater can take up to 20 hours, but that's the charm of Dainty Knit. "I'd always like to be hands-on with designing and making," Rebecca admits. "I'd never want to grow my brand and then have a group of people making the clothes for me. I want to be involved every step of the way." Owning a small business has also forced her out of her shell. "I feel like you have to be [more extroverted] as a business owner, and if you're not, it's fake it 'til you make it."

As Rebecca looks to the future, she hasn't forgotten where she came from. In fact, her love of her hometown is stitched into every garment she makes, from the colors (red is the city's signature color, and local soccer team Liverpool F.C. is famously referred to as The Reds) to the images. Dainty Knit's logo, which mimics a heart with an upwards-facing arrow in the middle, is inspired by the ornate red iron gates at Strawberry Fields and the White Star Line, the former British shipping company founded in Liverpool that launched the Titanic. The city's rich maritime history has also influenced Rebecca's Dainty Knit designs. Some of her favorite motifs are pulled from sailor iconography — anchors, midshipman insignias, and boat collars. "A lot of people might not have good things to say about Liverpool. But it's very special to me. I always miss it. So I like to carry like a piece of home with me everywhere I go." And now customers can too.

Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue

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