EPISODE 58 :: Aisling Camps
The Close Knit podcast aims to hold space for conversation about the ways we use fiber to process life and world events
In Episode 58 of the Close Knit Podcast, I spoke to Aisling Camps, Trinidadian born, mechanical engineer turned knitwear designer hustling out of Brooklyn.
Aisling and I talk about her early days in NYC, working as an engineer on sustainability projects, and her desire to express more of her creativity, which led her eventually to a BFA program at FIT. We chat about her relationship to NYC and Trinidad and how her business was born on a couple of knitting machines back home in Trinidad after a visa ran out. Her work is heavily influenced by the climate there and her Trinidadian background, resulting in the ephemeral and striking pieces she makes today.
We discuss her in-home production and the necessity of bringing in outside help as she grows, how she built a relationship with a family in Italy to work on some of her pieces, and how beautiful that relationship is.
This year, in particular, has brought new challenges and peaks for her, and talk about both the heavier moments and the lighter ones - from George Floyd’s murder to the opportunities and mentorship that have resulted from the cultural reaction to racial injustice.
