Crafts meet fashion: the memory of yarn and the cultural preservation of crochet

Abstract

Yarn, as both a symbolic and material element, spans various cultural fields, from mythology to textile practices in fashion. This article aims to present crochet as a practice that connects cultural memory and fashion production, exploring its endurance and reinvention within the slow fashion landscape. The qualitative research is based on a literature review, integrating theoretical frameworks on memory, material culture, and sustainability. The results indicate that crochet transcends its technical and aesthetic dimensions, establishing itself as a cultural practice within the creative economy sector that preserves knowledge, strengthens identities, and proposes alternatives to the dominant production model. It is concluded that manual craftsmanship, by integrating tradition and innovation, contributes to the construction of a more ethical, sensitive, and socially committed fashion, highlighting its potential as a tool for resistance and creation in contemporary design.