As a child, Nicole Leybourne had little care for the patience needed for knitting.
Now the 25-year-old designer from New Zealand has attracted the attention of Vogue and Kendall Jenner for her fluffy creations.
“I started knitting a few years ago after I taught myself via watching YouTube videos,” Leybourne told Mamamia.
“When I was younger I asked my Nan to knit a scarf for my school project for me as I didn’t have the patience and I was never any good. My knits always had heaps of holes in them.”
The slouchy, cozy jumpers and cardigans in bold colours (including the of-the-moment millennial pink) she creates for her label the Knitter have been a hit on social media, with almost 15,000 followers on Instagram.
It’s likely through this channel that her slouchy knits caught the eye of arguably one of the most influential fashion figures of the year – Kendall Jenner.
“I received an email from someone in Kendall’s team in March requesting the Bubblegum knit,” she said.
Describing the whole thing as “a bit surreal”, Leybourne said she was sewing labels late at night at home before she saw the notification.
However as each $700 piece takes days to create from start to finish and created by hand by Leubourne and her team of knitters, it hasn’t found its way to Jenner just yet.
“I need to get onto that and send it out!” she told Mamamia.
She’s only been running her label the Knitter full-time since March this year, but Leybourne is already kicking serious goals.
Her other “pinch-me” career moment?
“Visiting US Vogue in New York this year and seeing Anna Wintour step into the elevator as Grace Coddington stepped out,” she says.
“I was packing all my knits back into my two suitcases after my meeting and I thought I was in a dream. I can’t believe Vogue even liked my knits!”
Not bad for someone who couldn’t even knit a few years ago.
LISTEN: Shaynna Blaze explains her obsession with wearing black.