Status: Draft for socialisation. Not for distribution until the pre-read has been pre-read.

1. Purpose

The Cardigan Design Sub-Committee (CDSC) is established to drive best-in-class outcomes in the brown wool cardigan space for the customs broking community. The CDSC will deliver a sleeved, elbow-patched, future-ready knitwear solution that moves the needle (and, ideally, the yarn).

2. Strategic Context

Customs brokers operate in a high-friction environment. Elbows are leant on desks during essential character debates, during reviews of decisions, and while waiting for ICS to come back up. Current elbow-wear velocity is unsustainable. The sleeveless model has been piloted and found to be non-compliant with Monday mornings.

3. Scope

In scope:

Cardigan body, sleeves (two, non-negotiable) and buttons
Leather elbow patches, including patch geometry, stitch density and patch-to-sleeve interface
Colour, which is brown
Pocket capacity for one highlighter, one Tariff Concordance and one emergency Tim Tam

Out of scope:

Any colour other than brown
Hoods, zips, sequins and "athleisure"
Tariff classification of the cardigan, which is referred to a separate Working Group on account of the leather patches triggering a heated Rule 3(b) discussion that nobody has the bandwidth for

4. Membership

Membership is fully gender-neutral and age-neutral. Members will be selected solely on demonstrated passion for knitwear and the ability to say "let's take that offline" with conviction.

Chair: Holds the space and the agenda; does not hold opinions on buttons until the data is in
Deputy Chair: Circles back
Knitwear Thought Leader: Brings the blue-sky thinking; is gently reminded the outcome is brown
Elbow Patch Lead: Owns the patch roadmap end to end
Button Strategy Lead: Manages the contested button landscape (see Item 7)
Minute Taker: Records actions, decisions and the number of times "synergy" is said
Independent Observer: A licensed customs broker, who will record their reasoning

Quorum is achieved when at least half of members are present, or when the Tim Tams arrive, whichever comes first.

5. Meeting Cadence

The CDSC will meet fortnightly, with a pre-meeting to align on the meeting and a post-meeting to unpack the meeting. An annual offsite will be held at a location with good wool-related vibes.

6. Decision-Making

Decisions are made by consensus. Where consensus cannot be reached, the matter will be parked, then socialised, then escalated, then de-escalated, then parked again. Decisions on colour are pre-made (see Item 3).

7. Key Risks

Pilling (risk rating: Tier 1) – Establish a Pilling Taskforce and lint roller governance framework
Button misalignment (risk rating: High) – Mandatory top-to-bottom buttoning protocol and peer review
Scope creep toward a vest (risk rating: High) – Sleeves are locked in. Any reference to a vest is to be escalated immediately
Patch detachment (risk rating: Medium) – Quarterly elbow audits
Someone suggests navy (risk rating: Critical) – Refer to Item 3. Remain calm

8. Deliverables

Scoping paper (with executive summary of the scoping paper)
Cardigan Roadmap FY27 to FY30
Tier 1 Pilling Risk Register
Prototype cardigan (brown)
Lessons learned report, to be drafted before any lessons are learned

9. Reporting

The CDSC reports to the Knitwear Steering Committee, which reports to the Apparel Governance Board, which will circle back to the CDSC for an update on its own report.

10. Review of Terms of Reference

These Terms of Reference will be reviewed every 12 months, or whenever someone mentions a cardigan with a zip.

11. Endorsement

Endorsed by the CDSC at its inaugural meeting, pending ratification at the pre-meeting of the next meeting.

Let's knit it into the DNA.