Stories
Janne Landuyt
"Beyond the Trends:
Creating Art with Every Thread"
Photography by Elien Janssen
Narrated by someone special. The Narrator is revealed within the publication.
The air in Beringen carried a sharp chill, the kind that hinted at the approaching winter. It was the kind of cold that kissed your cheeks and turned your breath into faint clouds—a familiar and oddly comforting sensation for Janne. The small town where she grew up was far quieter than the bustling streets of Ghent she had recently left behind. Yet, in the stillness of Beringen, she hoped to find clarity, a way to stitch together the pieces of her uncertain future.
For most of her youth, she thought she’d simply follow the current: study textile design, find a steady job with a big company, and work in the background. It wasn’t until her third year of university, during an internship in Antwerp, that the spark she didn’t know she had ignited into a flame.
The atelier where she worked was a kaleidoscope of creativity. The walls were lined with yarns in every imaginable hue, and the air hummed with the soft whirring of knitting machines.
The woman she worked under—a master knitter with hands that seemed to dance over her machines—was everything Janne aspired to be. In that space, surrounded by the rhythmic clatter of needles and the scent of fresh wool, Janne discovered something profound: her voice.
It wasn’t loud or demanding but soft and textured, like the intricate stitches of a sweater. She realized she didn’t want to work for someone else’s vision; she wanted to create her own.
And so, she did.
Back in Beringen, she set up her first knitting machine. It was nothing like the atelier in Antwerp—it was small and modest, tucked into the corner of her childhood home—but it was hers. She spent hours experimenting, knitting summer tops, and playing with colors until her hands ached and her eyes blurred. Every thread she worked with felt like a piece of herself, her emotions tangling and weaving into each creation. With each finished piece, her confidence grew. Within two years, Janne had built something she hadn’t dared to imagine before: an independent knitwear label, a reflection of her truest self.
But the life of a designer wasn’t without its challenges. The fashion world moved at a relentless pace, its deadlines looming like heavy clouds. Trends came and went in the blink of an eye, tempting even the most grounded creatives to chase fleeting hypes. Janne, however, refused to compromise.
Her philosophy was simple: every knit must be a reflection of who I am and what I feel. She believed in creating pieces with integrity, not just for financial gain but as art forms that told stories.
On brisk autumn evenings, Janne often found herself reflecting on what had brought her happiness. It was never just one thing. It was the small joys—the perfect cup of coffee on a slow morning, the vibrant clash of colors when she discovered a new yarn, the laughter of her family gathered around a table. It was also the larger triumphs: the glowing smile of a customer wearing one of her knits, the quiet satisfaction of finishing a collection. Happiness, she realized, was a mosaic of moments, stitched together like the fabric she loved so much.
Autumn, especially, was her favorite season. It reminded her of her childhood vacations in Garmisch, the Bavarian town where she was born. She could still picture the snow-covered streets, the lanterns casting warm light on icy paths, and the sound of her brother’s laughter as he dodged snowballs. The crisp air and warm knitwear of those winters were woven into her memory like the softest wool. It was in those moments, wrapped in thick sweaters with traditional Bavarian patterns, that her love for knitwear began—long before she ever realized it.
Now, as the leaves turned shades of amber and crimson, she felt the same warmth and inspiration from those memories. Autumn was, to her, a time of preparation and reflection—a season to slow down and savor the small details. It reminded her that even though the world outside might rush, she could find her own rhythm, knitting one stitch at a time.
The full story appears in our Nature’s Rhythm special >>