Gui Rosa may have spent the summer sipping Aldi Aperini and Cava spritzes as London sweats its way through one of the most sweltering seasons on record, but where most of us have been fantasising about stripping off our clothes and throwing ourselves headfirst into the nearest body of water, the rising designer has been fantasising about knitwear. “You know how frisky I get in the heat,” they tell me via email, before diving into the details surrounding their latest collection. 

“It all began with gossip,” Rosa explains. “I was filled in on the knitted sexual escapades of a certain public figure who built a homemade knitted playroom in the two years we were in confinement – it featured knitted lampshades, knitted chairs, knitted champagne bottles, and even a knitted tent.” Further research via fetish-friendly app FetLife revealed a whole community of people who get horny for mohair sweaters and cashmere cardigans. “As long as there has been wool, there have been people who were aroused by it,” wrote Countess Piroska, a proud owner of 3,000 sweaters, on one forum. 

The result is Rosa’s Lapland Skaters offering, which spices up knitwear through cheeky peek-a-boo cutouts and silhouettes that simultaneously conceal and expose – think chunky, cocoon-like ponchos covered in crocheted flowers, slinky chenille second-skin skirts and leggings, and delicate knitted lace bodysuits, which took “three cosy months to complete”, on account of the level of detail stitched into the fabric. The whole thing is supremely tactile and inviting, and practically begging to be slipped on. “Woolies really value their mohair or their alpaca for its tactile quality, its itchiness, or its suppleness,” says Rosa. “They’re in an all-consuming relationship with their clothes.”

The next stage of the project, then, was getting it all shot. Armed with “a touch of liquid luck” in the form of more knock-off Aperol, the designer and his enlisted cast slipped into a sexy knitted winter wonderland, where models writhed about and composed themselves into horny positions ripped from the pages of the Kama Sutra. “[We made] crocheted porcelain, crocheted cocktail glasses, a crocheted moose head, even a crocheted dining table fully framed by a crocheted four poster bed, and in each photograph we had two ‘naked’ actors in a state of secret indulgence inside a woolly honeymoon suite,” says Rosa. “Basically, long time, lot of stitch.” 

Here, Rosa fills us in on Lapland fantasies, woolie Portuguese customs, and sweating it out making winter collections in an unprecedented 40 degree heatwave.

Hey Gui! So first of all, tell me how you’ve spent your summer?

Gui Rosa: Grappling with the idea that I’ve just designed an après ski collection, fantasising about Lapland skaters in crocheted mohair bodysuits at Stockwell Skate Park, and mixing Aperol Spritzes with Aldi Aperini and Cava. You know how frisky I get in the heat.

Is it weird to spend the summer months working on winter collections? Does your concept of time get skewed? 

Gui Rosa: The full bodied mohair layering helped rid myself of obvious flesh and skin and in a way made weather and seasonality redundant. It spearheaded a reversal of roles and canons of seduction and attraction. Come mating season, to the average wool fetishist, someone wearing an alpaca sweater, a crocheted mohair wig, crocheted leg warmers, and a crocheted skirt is way more attractive than seeing that same person naked. One avid fetishist I came across while doing primary research insists he is sexually attracted to anyone wearing a sweater, including men – though he was sure to remind me of his heterosexuality (don’t fret, Sweaterer). The idea that carries the design is that woolies value their mohair and their alpaca for its tactile quality, for its itchiness or suppleness. They’re in a relationship solely with their clothes. An all consuming relationship. Colour and shape were mostly stripped back and we traded on the insinuation of taboo mingling, the fuzzy, objective appeal of the fetish, the garment. It was no longer hidden in shame, in the confines of the crocheted puppet tent but it is flaunted on set. It is a symbol of identity. 

What was the inspiration this season? Why Lapland? Why skaters? 

Gui Rosa: It all began with gossip. I was filled in on the knitted sexual escapades of a certain public figure who built a homemade knitted playroom in the two years we were in confinement. It featured knitted lampshades, knitted chairs, knitted swings, knitted moose heads, knitted champagne bottles, even a knitted tent. This was followed by some perusal of a blogspotting woolmaster who led me to believe it wasn’t the egg nor the chicken that came first, but the wool. In fact, if any empirical conclusion has come from this season, it’s that as long as there has been wool, there have been people who were aroused by it. 

 Do you have a favourite piece from the offering? 

Gui Rosa: Personally inefficiency is like a native trait, so with that in mind I’d have to pick the lurex and chenille cape (poncho?) made of thousands of individually crocheted flowers which were hand sewn together on the stand to form a bulbous cocoon like shape around the torso. There is but a single orifice which is designed to unbind the wearer’s hand and allow them to carry a matching crocheted purse at night, of course. This is styled over a knitted lace bodysuit – the flower stitching post-production manoeuvre itself took no less than three cosy months to complete.

Who would you love to see this collection worn by, and where? 

Gui Rosa: Stockwell skate park, mid-heatwave – ideally by someone who is unable to sweat in 40 degree heat.

If the collection was a song, what would it be and why?

Gui Rosa: Accurate and Zeitgeisty. Beyoncé – ”Cozy”. 

Tell me about the shoot? It looks like it was so much fun!

Gui Rosa: Long time, a lot of stitch! There was a crocheted bearskin rug, crocheted porcelain, crochet cocktail glasses, crochet champagne bottles (and real ones), a crocheted dinner set, a crochet moose head, even a crochet dining table, all fully framed by a crocheted four poster bed (even the crocheted curtains were merino). In each sketch we had two ‘naked actors’ in a state of secret indulgence, even though it isn’t really confidential as it ends up being documented. It’s a hint of what follows in the multipartner crocheted honeymoon suite. 

Sum the collection up in a gorgeous sentence?

Gui Rosa: ‘As long as there has been wool there have been people who were aroused by it. Some developed a fixation’ – Countess Piroska via FetLife (a proud owner of 3000 sweaters).

What’s exciting you at the moment, both about fashion and more generally? 

Gui Rosa: I’ve been seduced by the idea of concealing while on display.