diletta cancellato’s new knitwear line adapts to different body shapes + heights

‘Universo Cancellato’ redefines size in fashion

Diletta Cancellato is an Italian fashion designer specialized in sustainable knitwear couture to improve garment durability while reducing material waste. Her latest project, ‘Universo Cancellato’ (cU), explores a new way of thinking about size by creating everyday garments that adapt to different body types and not the other way around. The collection will be presented during this year’s Milan Design Week, running between June 6 and June 12, 2022.

‘cU is a knitwear brand that offers contemporary, comfortable and versatile clothes, designed to fit the bodies of as many people as possible. To do so, it works on engineered shapes and elasticity through knitwear. A continuously developing research and design path, which aims to create clothing without exclusions of size, age, gender or physical abilities. The extreme versatility and adaptability of the cU garments allow the optimization of purchases and the extension of garment life,’ explains Cancellato.

jacket with kissed closure + inverted pleat trousers | all images © Universo Cancellato

using height as a new metric for greater accessibility

Each ‘Universo Cancellato’ piece (see more here) offers a soft and abundant fit by resting on, wrapping around, and adapting to the body. Elasticated cuffs and strap, meanwhile, support and embrace the garment with more firmness. Unlike standard sizes found on the market (XS, XL, etc.), the brand uses height as a metric to accommodate a larger pool of users, ranging between 1.30m and over 1.90m.

To find the ideal fit based on height, the designer has created a size guide on her website that customers can look over before ordering their custom pieces. That said, users can easily draw from other sizes based on the fit they prefer — regular or oversized. The key pieces from the knitwear collection are the jacket with kissed closure, inverted pleat trousers, and wide asymmetrical skirt.

wide asymmetrical skirt

gender neutral, airy, and highly customizable

Taking to Instagram, the brand describes each piece as follows: ‘Jacket made with a slightly textured stitch that gives it structure, while leaving it soft and comfortable at the same time. The shoulders are designed so that the jacket adapts perfectly to different body shapes. On the front it has a kissed closure […] with a magnet. The fit is loose, but can be adjusted thanks to the black strap. Also knitted, the strap can be left open, tied on the back or on in front of the belly.

On the other hand, there is the ‘elegant and extremely comfortable trousers, characterized by a black elastic waistband with a high waist and wide pleats on the front. Equipped with American pockets, it has a loose and soft fit, with a slight narrowing at the bottom of the leg.’ Finally, users can enjoy a ‘wide asymmetrical skirt, a pleasant feeling of airiness and lightness.’

jacket with kissed closure + inverted pleat trousers