Reusing existing resources has always been an important part of our product development at SISSEL EDELBO. Many of our collections are therefore created from recycled and surplus textiles, which we select from our suppliers and local markets in India. These leftover fabrics, also known as deadstock, are incorporated into our design process, and because the material is only available in limited quantities, our leftover styles are limited edition.
Vintage saris were the original source of inspiration for SISSEL EDELBO and have since been a recognizable part of our collections – and they still are to this day. The sari is one of the world’s oldest traditional garments and has been worn by Indian women for both everyday life and special occasions for generations. Founder and Creative Director Jeanne Sissel Thomsen carefully selects each sari for our collections. These carefully chosen pre-owned saris are recycled in honor of the sari's history and are reinterpreted in our designs. Recycled saris do not have care labels when we purchase them, and therefore, we cannot precisely specify the material composition, which can range from cotton, polyester, and viscose to silk blends. This variation makes each sari-style truly unique, with its characteristic play of colors, patterns, and history.
We work with 100% organic cotton, which is grown without the use of synthetic pesticides, artificial fertilizers, or GMOs.
With our love for reusing textiles and our admiration for India’s craftsmanship, we have, for many years, reinterpreted Indian vintage Kantha quilts in new ways by upcycling them into beautiful blanket wear, bags, and more.
Kantha is a traditional embroidery technique rooted in Indian village communities, where women have, for generations, reused old cotton fabric scraps – especially saris – to create quilts. The technique involves layering several pieces of recycled fabric on top of each other and hand-stitching them together with small, uniform stitches in straight rows, which is the hallmark of Kantha. We continue this tradition by giving used Kantha quilts new life in the form of jackets, vests, bags, and other styles that clearly show both history and craftsmanship. By recycling Kantha quilts in our production, we are reusing existing materials rather than producing new ones.
On our many travels to India, we have fallen in love with the country’s treasure troves of quilts, which we have incorporated into our SISSEL EDELBO collections as a beautiful reminder of where our products come from. Our Blanket Wear styles are made from beautiful hand-embroidered Indian quilts, inspired by the rich tradition of Indian craftsmanship, which we reinterpret into new and unique designs. We use both vintage and newly produced quilts, created with techniques such as suzani embroidery, appliqué, and patchwork, techniques that have been used for hundreds of years in India.
Our suzani embroideries are particularly sought after, and we work with both traditional Indian motifs and our own unique suzani embroideries, designed in Denmark with quirky motifs and small stories. These are then produced using the traditional suzani craftsmanship technique, where the characteristic suzani chain stitches are used to decorate, for example, organic canvas, kantha quilts, and other textiles.
Our patchwork styles are made by combining old leftover materials in new and creative ways, sewing many pieces of fabric together in patterns, either by hand or machine. Some of our designs also incorporate cuttings of leftover materials from our own production or leftover materials from local markets. All of these techniques are carried out by skilled artisans in India, giving each style its own unique touch with variations in patterns, colors, and textures.
In our denim styles, we work with recycled jeans that are cut into smaller pieces and assembled into patchwork patterns. The different denim shades give each style its own unique expression, as both the color play and the composition vary from one piece to another. By using already existing materials, we have found our own way to bring denim into our universe without having to produce new denim.