Mark Fast, spring/summer 2010
If you say the name Mark Fast, you would automatically hark back to the size 14 debate that happened at his catwalk show at this September’s London Fashion Week. However, there is a lot more to this talented knitwear designer.
Born in Winnipeg, Fast studied for a year at a fashion college in Toronto. It was his tutor and “most inspirational mentor” Malcolm Pearcey that got the designer “very excited” to going to study in London at Central St. Martins. Pearcey had also studied there, and with his help, Fast moved to the UK and studied fashion knitwear, which he claims “It was not the easiest at all at the beginning. It was frustrating and technically difficult”, but there was something about the craftwork that kept him going.
When posed with the question of his choice of studying knitwear, Fast replied “If you see a knitting machine, there are many questions one can ask. What is it? Where do you begin? Is it a musical instrument? It is the unknown territory that intrigued me to discover the process and what lay behind the silver needles. There was, and is, so much to learn about these machines”.
Mark Fast, spring/summer 2010
Opting not to use patterns as they “hold me down”, Fast finds it more exciting to create without them as the patterns “say that is what it will look like”, and instead goes with the “instinct of my hands and the research that is in the back of my head”.
Fast prefers the use of domestic machines when knitting, due to the fact they “give you more control over the stitches” and when it comes to his favourite yarns, elastomeric is the “most amazing” to use. Its unpredictability and elasticity can make his studio a surprising place, describing the yarn as “like a sling shot! There are always pins flying around my studio.”
I felt rude asking the designer over the size 14 model on his latest catwalk and I also felt it had been done to death by the press, however I felt intrigued to ask his opinion on the matter. “My work is for all women. Because my work is quite body shaping, I felt it was time to address these women in my show. They were a great inspiration to my work.” When commenting on the controversy his decision garnered, Fast commented “I didn’t expect the rush of controversy. Those women were beautiful and the clothes looked great too. That is all I was trying to achieve.” I further asked Fast on the constant size zero debate, he took a diplomatic view, commenting that “To each their own! Some women are a size zero and some women are not”.
Mark Fast, spring/summer 2010
Since fashion week, there is “great excitement” after the success of the show and things seem to be going from strength to strength for the designer. Fast’s future sees him traveling to Toronto, New York, and then back in time for Christmas with his family and with the weather getting chilly, it’s time to bring out those winter knits.
