A material driven design framework for sustainable knitwear using surplus yarn in Thailand

Abstract The fashion industry continues to face significant sustainability challenges related to material waste and resource inefficiency, particularly within industrial knitwear production. One persistent yet underexamined issue is the accumulation of surplus yarn generated through production planning, minimum order quantities, and colour changes. While sustainable fashion research has largely focused on fabric waste reduction and post-consumer reuse, surplus yarn represents a distinct form of pre-consumer material excess that remains insufficiently addressed through design-led and methodologically structured approaches. This study investigates how surplus yarn from the Thai knitwear industry can be systematically integrated into sustainable womenswear design while supporting brand identity development. Adopting a qualitative, practice-based research design, the study combines semi-structured interviews with a knitwear manufacturing stakeholder and fashion and textile design experts, thematic analysis, and iterative design experimentation. Thematic analysis was employed to systematically interpret industry and expert perspectives, enabling the identification of key concerns related to material variability, production constraints, design adaptability, and sustainability communication. Drawing on these analytical insights, the study develops a five-step material-driven design framework that operationalises surplus yarn integration through sequential stages of material assessment, adaptive design, technical feasibility evaluation, collaborative refinement, and brand integration. The framework was tested through the development of textile prototypes and a womenswear capsule collection using surplus yarn provided by an industrial manufacturer, demonstrating its methodological robustness and applicability under real production conditions. By articulating a transparent and replicable design research methodology, this study positions surplus yarn not merely as residual waste but as a strategic design resource. The proposed framework offers a transferable methodological contribution for researchers, designers, and manufacturers seeking to embed sustainability into knitwear production through structured, process-oriented design practices aligned with contemporary consumer values.