{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O108379"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O108379/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AC7015/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AC7015/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AC7015","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London/Sally Levison","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O108379","accessionNumber":"T.26&A-1979","objectType":"Skirt suit","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"This outfit is typical of the late 1960s. During this period, designers were often reinterpreting smart women’s wear like the suit in youthful styles by using unconventional textiles. This jacket and skirt were hand-knitted in a wide rib pattern. The knitter created the interesting shaggy texture of the polo neck and cuffs by using a loop stitch called, appropriately, 'poodle stitch'. The hip-length jacket fastens with plastic buttons down the left side, while the fashionable mini skirt has an elasticated waist.\n\nSally Levison (1923 – 2006) was an innovative knitwear designer based in the island of Gozo, Malta. Levison began her career as a buyer for retail outlets in the Isle of Wight and London in the early 1960s. Noticing that knitwear was a popular product for retail outlets at the time,  Levison had the idea to reinterpret high fashion fabric looks as knitted or crocheted designs. As the looks she hoped to achieve were difficult to realise with the machinery then available, she developed ways to produce them by hand-knitting. After finding two business partners to help realise her ideas, Levison set up a small premises in Gozo in 1968. \r\n\nLevison’s designs were initially sold from her showroom in Mortimer Street, London, in the late 1960s. They quickly gained international success and were sold to customers in France, Italy, Spain, Finland and the USA. She was responsible for helping popularise co-ordinated and mix-and-match outfits, with designs fitting in with the contemporary vogue for hand-knitted, close-fitting clothes in the early 1970s. They were frequently featured in Vogue magazine and other publications. ","physicalDescription":"Jacket and skirt hand knitted white wool in wide rib pattern. \r\nJacket has long sleeves and is hip length, it fastens at the left front with a line of off white plastic buttons. It has a high polo neck and cuffs in a looped 'poodle' stitch.  Has a peach label printed in brown.\r\n\r\nFlared mini-skirt is in knitted white wool in the same wide rib pattern and side button (white plastic pearlised). It has an elasticated waist and fastens at the side with three buttons.\r\n","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Sally Levison","id":"A13997"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Wool","id":"AAT243430"}],"techniques":[{"text":"Hand knitting","id":"x30442"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Hand knitted wool","categories":[{"text":"Fashion","id":"THES48957"},{"text":"Womenswear","id":"THES49044"},{"text":"Europeana Fashion Project","id":"THES265804"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&F","id":"THES48601"},"images":["2006AC7015"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"010","id":"THES307856"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"010","id":"THES307856"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"cardigans","id":"AAT209880"}],[{"text":"skirts","id":"AAT209932"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Malta","id":"x32751"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1968-1970","earliest":"1968-01-01","latest":"1970-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Miss Marion Giordan","dimensions":[],"dimensionsNote":"Tension: 6.5 stitches per inch\r\n3 stitches per cm\r\nApprox. size 10","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Hand knitted wool jacket and skirt, made by Sally Levison, Malta, 1968-1970","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"SUIT\r\n(jacket and skirt), handknitted wool.\r\nMalta, Gozo: Sally Levison, about 1968\r\n\r\nThe hip-length jacket fastens at the left front with plastic buttons. It is knitted in a wide rib pattern and has a high polo neck and cuffs in a looped stitch. The flared mini-skirt (seventeen inches long) is in the same wide rib pattern. It has an elasticated waist and fastens at the side with three buttons.\r\n\r\nSally Levison perceived that knitwear was undergoing a radical transformation and caught the mood for co-ordinated and 'mix and match' outfits. Her short-lived but internationally successful business was set up on the small Maltese island of Gozo in 1968. She employed up to one thousand knitters and crocheters and in 1970, encouraged by the Maltese government, set up a factory. The business was sold to Mary Farrin in 1973.\r\n\r\nGiven by Miss Marion Giordan\r\nT.26&A-1979","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null}}],"partNumbers":["T.26-1979","T.26A-1979"],"accessionNumberNum":"26","accessionNumberPrefix":"T","accessionYear":1979,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Skirt","Cardigan"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-08","recordCreationDate":"2005-01-06","availableToBook":true}}