‘knitted army’ by andrea brena recycled cloth image courtesy of andrea brena andrea brena: knitted army at DMY berlin 2012

berlin-based italian designer andrea brena has conceived a range of furnishings entitled ‘knitted army’. the collection was born from brena’s decision to take a year from his bachelor programme at the eindhoven academy to ‘see what life was like outside the bubble [of university]‘ through exploring his own understanding of design. reviving the art of arm-knitting was the outcome of this, in which the craftsman reuses discarded fabric strips from textile factories in italy to knit into carpets, pillows and chairs using only his arms as the guide. each piece is produced from leftover cloth where the cushions and seats are stuffed with the same scrap material.

andrea brena: knitted army at DMY berlin 2012 the material knitted

andrea brena: knitted army at DMY berlin 2012 arm-knitted carpet

andrea brena: knitted army at DMY berlin 2012 the left-over fabric used to create the pieces

andrea brena: knitted army at DMY berlin 2012 the carpets are made using a crochet technique which is a more difficult method image © designboom

andrea brena: knitted army at DMY berlin 2012 arm-knitted pillows

andrea brena: knitted army at DMY berlin 2012 image © designboom

andrea brena: knitted army at DMY berlin 2012 image © designboom

andrea brena: knitted army at DMY berlin 2012 arm-knitted chair image © designboom

andrea brena: knitted army at DMY berlin 2012 detail image © designboom

andrea brena: knitted army at DMY berlin 2012 image © designboom

andrea brena: knitted army at DMY berlin 2012 the collection on show

video showing the process