Morgan Collins & Cat Bloxsom from Cardigang
Morgan Collins and Cat Bloxsom’s side-hustle Cardigang came after last year’s Melbourne lockdown. The future looks bright (and cosy!) for this talented duo.
Words: Hande Renshaw | Photography: Alexandrena Parker
Morgan Collins and Cat Bloxsom, co-founders of Cardigang. Photo: Alexandrena Parker
Cardigang knits on location in Albury. Photo: Alexandrena Parker
H&F: Tell us a little about the idea behind Cardigang, when was it first realised?
Morgan & Cat: We launched Cardigang on the hottest day in December of last year after discovering a love for knitting during Melbourne’s 2020 lockdowns. We’re both quite creative people and we were looking for an outlet that would keep us connected but also help keep our hands busy and minds calm. Rather than turn to sourdough or Marie Kondo our wardrobes, we turned to knitting!
Neither of us had knitted before, but we both love a challenge. With the help of YouTube, and a few SOS calls to our grannies, we taught ourselves how to knit and discovered just how easy it was to master the skill. We won’t lie, we also loved how much fun it was to brag to family and friends that we’d made our fabulous knits ourselves!
We read that you both work in marketing… were your roles useful when setting up Cardigang?
Having marketing backgrounds has proven to be super useful when it comes to Cardigang. Marketing is a pretty holistic, all encompassing discipline which was so handy to tap into when setting up the business. Anyone can make a product to sell, but identifying your target market and understanding how to build a brand that (you hope) they will love is something completely different.
From a practical point of view, our broad skill sets enabled us to do a lot of the heavy lifting ourselves. Aside from the logo (which we called in the big guns for), we’ve designed all of our own collateral, managed our PR, set up our paid advertising and also built the website ourselves.
Being a small business owner, you really do wear many hats so it’s really important that you are willing to get your hands dirty and give just about anything a go.
Why do you think knitting has been such a huge hit during lockdown?
On a personal level, we turned to knitting during lockdown as a fun way to keep ourselves busy. There are so many benefits from picking up the sticks, both mentally and physically. It’s been proven to lower your blood pressure, reduce anxiety levels and increase a sense of wellbeing. Not only that, but it really gets the dopamine going too!
‘With the help of YouTube, and a few SOS calls to our grannies, we taught ourselves how to knit and discovered just how easy it was to master the skill,’ says Cat Bloxsom. Photo: Alexandrena Parker
The Cardigang DIY kits are tailored to beginners so anyone can learn on their own. Photo: Alexandrena Parker
“We draw a lot of our inspiration from street fashion; particularly in cities like Stockholm, Copenhagen and Berlin. Building a colourful, fashion-focused DIY knitwear brand for beginners was really important to us.”
What does a regular Cardigang work day look like for you?
No two days are the same! We both work full time in our 9-5 jobs, so Cardigang is a before work, after work and weekend love affair. If it’s been a bumper week of sales you’ll find us in the warehouse packing orders and listening to bangers (depending on who’s DJing!). We also spend a lot of time knitting and testing our new patterns, planning our latest campaigns and working on new content.
Since starting the business, what valuable tools have you learnt?
Great question, we’ve learnt a heap. From practical things like manufacturing processes, setting up an SEM campaign and how to balance a P&L, to building soft skills like resilience and problem solving. We’re incredibly lucky that we’ve started Cardigang as friends, we definitely think two brains are better than one and having the support of each other has encouraged us to go outside our comfort zone and learn new skills.
Where do you mainly draw inspiration from for your patterns and designs?
When we started Cardigang, we knew we wanted to inject a lot of colour into the knits. As two Melbournians our wardrobes were packed to the brim with black clothing. But boy has that changed!
We draw a lot of our inspiration from street fashion, particularly in cities like Stockholm, Copenhagen and Berlin. Building a colourful, fashion-focussed DIY knitwear brand for beginners was really important to us.
What piece of advice would you give someone who is about to launch a side hustle?
It sounds pretty obvious, but listen to your customers. When we launched Cardigang it was such a watered down version of what the brand has evolved into over the last 8+ months.
We launched with one size, and very quickly knew this wasn’t going to cut it. Our patterns are now available in multiple sizes (6-28) and some in a range of shapes and styles to suit different bodies.
Before developing a new pattern we look at our data, and our feedback to make sure we’re moving in the right direction for our customers.
What’s in store next for you both creatively?
We’re working away on new styles, including a range that’s more suited to the summer months. Development of new kits is definitely something that keeps us creatively challenged and we love working with a talented group of people to bring the new patterns to life through our campaign shoots.
‘No two days are the same! We both work full time in our 9-5 jobs, so Cardigang is a before work, after work and weekend love affair,’ says Morgan Collins. Photo: Alexandrena Parker
Gelato toned striped knits, which look almost good enough to eat! Photo: Alexandrena Parker