Parin Rekhraj - Werldpiece

Photography by Nita Kiem and Linda Kim

Meet Parin Rekhraj, the 25 yr old designer/creator of Werldpiece specializing in the fiber arts. Using yarns sourced from local businesses, secondhand, as well as from her grandmother’s collection, Rekhraj has created a multitude of pieces meant to showcase the wearer’s confidence. Scrolling through the brand’s Instagram feed, the designs can only be described as whimsical sirens. 

As she took us back to the earliest day of Werldpiece, Rekhraj’s introduction to knitting actually started with her learning the techniques from a neighbor and when inspirations blossomed, she decided to “pick up the needles and go at it” in October 2021. As she continued to create and grow in her skills, she created one of her most popular pieces as a “happy accident”- her web dresses.  

Q&A

What made you want to crochet/knit (why that hobby out of all the other hobbies out there)? 

I grew up around crafty women. My neighbor taught me, my sister, and a bunch of little girls how to crochet … but I didn’t get much further than a scarf because I was maybe 6 or 7. I picked it up again in high school in one of my elective craft classes. We had 3 class periods to make a scarf, and I remember finishing mine in 1, and ended up making many more infinity scarves (circa 2014) to pass the time. During the pandemic, I picked it back up and started correcting bikinis to raise money for BLM protestors and mutual aid funds. 

When things started to open back up, I decided to crochet my own party dresses because nothing fit me just right. I started thrifting in 2016, and slowly my whole closet became second hand, either from thrift stores or my mom,dad, and brother’s closets. There was just no point in buying new clothes all the time. I think the last time I bought new clothes (that weren’t underwear) was in 2018. One thing my mom’s closet and the thrift stores lacked was party clothes, so I decided to make my own.

I decided to start knitting in October 2021 because I had graduated in May and was on the job hunt, with no success. It gave me something to pass the time. I had no idea it would’ve turned into something like this. I started posting what I made on tiktok and people started wanting, even though I could barely knit. I learned techniques from old grannies on youtube and started applying them to my crochet panel sizing knowledge to shape garments. I didn’t know the first thing about knitting when I started but having an influx of orders forced me to learn EVERYTHING. 

What was the first thing you made?

I’ve crocheted for so long that I don’t remember my first wearable piece. But, I started knitting and documenting my journey on tiktok. The first thing I made was a little shrug skirt set that was inspired by something I really wanted on SSENSE. I started with the shrug and it had so many mistakes. I then made the skirt and the bra top, and guess what? no mistakes by the end of the pieces. It really solidified my basic knitting techniques and allowed me to create without the pressure of being perfect. 

What inspired you to start making clothes?

I am a curvy girl, and things have never fit me just right. It’s either too loose on the waist and super tight on the hips and legs, or just a boxy mess. Yarn naturally hugs your body so it fixes a lot of those issues you have with regular fabrics. I didn’t intend for this to become “making clothes” for others. It really started as wanting to make clothes for myself that actually fit and that I could go out in! 

How long does it take you to make a piece like your web dress?

The web dress is actually really simple, just very time consuming because I have to knit panels with larger needles and go over with an overlay of crochet, cinching in the right places. It’s a big guessing game of trying on and making sure the length is right. I think they take me around 15-25 hours depending on the length, size, and size of the stitch.

What was the “happy accident” that happened that led to the web dress’ creation?  

The web dresses came from a web top that I did. I think it was the 3rd thing I ever knit and it was the first time I had used giant needles. The yarn kept falling off the needles and being too tight or too loose. I am someone who makes a mistake and keeps going instead of hyperfixating and trying to fix each and every thing along the way. I find that I remember my mistakes if I let them show. Because of the open gaps in the top, I decided to crochet over them to try to close them… it closed them the way I wanted but it also created a cool 3D effect that I had never seen before. It definitely was not the seamless closing I wanted, but something way better. 

What was the inspo/creative process for the pieces you created for the shoot with KC?

Creating the same pieces over and over get monotonous. As much as I love the web pieces, it is reminiscent of a time when I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. I really have grown as a knitter, and the pieces were meant to show that I have so much more to offer than the basics most people are used to seeing for me. I have a lot of skills people have yet to see. Collaborating with photographers through photo shoots is a way I try to showcase new things. I did a photo series one of the last weeks of 2022 called “my knitting finals week”. I had just finished my masters finals week and I thought “how can I push myself to see what I could do for a week of intense knitting and coordinating?” I ended up connecting 5 photographers with models from a range of backgrounds and styles. I wanted to create an environment that pushed everyone out of their comfort zone, while still finding ways to bring their own personal touches to the project.

What was it like showing for NYFW? What season (F/W or S/S) How did that come about? 

"The knitting finals week project brought attention to my social media, and someone reached out to me to put on a NYFW show. I didn’t take it seriously when I first got the DM because I get a lot of spam dms. A lot of times people will reach out and be willing to coordinate if you give them X amount of thousands of dollars, something I don’t have. But they reached out again with the terms and I realized it was legit but I only had 3 weeks left to complete it. 

I went to the drawing board and started sourcing yarn and inspiration. My original draw. the collection was what I thought people wanted to see at a fashion show but I quickly threw that out of the window. I wanted to do something for me, since I have done so much creating for others. I used to be a very colorful person, but slowly regressed into all black and neutral clothing..., and this reflected in my pieces. 

I just wanted to create a colorful mess, forcing myself to work with color combinations… something I was so afraid of doing. I knit day in and day out, except for when I went to school. I pulled 3 all nighters in a row, 3 times, in 3 weeks. It was a lot. I had to cut a lot of corners because it was impossible to get every idea perfectly executed. I enlisted the help of my sister, her bf, and my bf to do tasks that I knew they could (having no experience w knitting). My sister helped me make charms, her bf helped me tie individual strands of yarn onto a coat, and my bf helped me shape panels. 

Like most beginnings, Rekhraj never intended for her creations to be for sale, it was simply her form of self-care and an escape from daily life’s responsibilities. As she shared her knitting journey on TikTok, more and more people caught onto her unique visions and purchase requests started streaming in. With her online presence on both Instagram and TikTok, Rekhraj wakes up to a new order almost every day. 

For more, read Rekhraj’s story on our Instagram @KIEMCOLLECTIVE.