Seamless: Shima Seiki Knit Symposium

Presented on the final day of the Seamless exhibition, this symposium showcases the novel research projects emerging from the UTS Shima Seiki Knit Lab.

Established in 2023, this state-of-the-art Lab houses the latest model of the Shima Seiki WHOLEGARMENT knit machine, the only one in the Southern Hemisphere. Over the past two years, the Lab has produced creative and innovative research on the potential of seamless knit technology.

Intersecting across many disciplines, the projects presented at the symposium push the boundaries of traditional fashion and textile research – ranging from material innovation, to circular design systems and cultural storytelling.

Presentations

• Researcher Rachel Cassar collaborates with time by preserving archival lace fragments and redesigning their properties through digital knit techniques.

• PhD candidate Patricia Chircop proposes a manufacturing Future Factory Network that enables localised, near-zero-waste knit production anywhere in the world.

• Informed by a Powerhouse Museum Research Fellowship, Cecilia Heffer collaborated with composer Mara Schwerdtfeger to translate lace as sound.

• Design studio High Tea with Mrs Woo seek to close the loop on post-production textile waste by transforming fabric offcuts into new, wearable garments.

• Practice-based PhD candidate Wajiha Pervez challenges the plastic-reliant foundations of athleisure clothing, rethinking its role in circular fashion.

• Donna Sgro utilised digital CLO technologies in conjunction with the Shima Seiki software to design a suite of garments for an INDance performance at Sydney Dance Company.

• Frédérique N. Sunstrum seeks to integrate advanced knitting technology with smart textiles for wearable health monitoring.

Tours of the UTS Shima Seiki Lab will also be offered to symposium attendees on the day. Registration is essential.

Donna Sgro's costumes for Sydney Dance Company INDance season, 2024. Photo: Stephen Reinhardt.

Seamless exhibition

Presented as part of Sydney Craft Week 2025, Seamless will showcase garments and knit experiments produced in the UTS Shima Seiki Knit Lab.

Exhibition dates: 10 - 24 October, 9am - 5pm (Excluding Sundays)

Location: UTS Design Exhibition Space, Level 6, Building 6 (Peter Johnson Building), University of Technology Sydney, 702-730 Harris Street, Ultimo.

Cecilia Heffer, 'Lace as Sound' 2025.

Creative Places

The Seamless exhibition and symposium are part of the UTS Creative Places initiative. Find out more

Header image: Mara Schwerdtfeger, 'Midi Drawing Pattern' (detail) 2025.