It’s with deep gratitude, some sadness and a bucketload of hope that we bring you this news today – we’ve decided to close Seljak Brand.
Seljak Brand began as an experiment and a case study. Together as sisters, we wanted to explore our hunch that there were better ways of making and using things. Establishing a waste-to-resource circular business was how we could test and prove such ideas were desirable and viable, and provide an example of change.
The appetite for what we created blew us away from the beginning. Not just from customers, but from the textiles and fashion industry itself, all eager to find less exploitative and wasteful practices.
Closing our doors is a tough decision but we feel like it’s the right time. Even though we’ve weathered the last few years of rising costs of goods, local manufacturing transitions and international logistics crises, small business is especially challenging when you’re in the business of system change.
After nine years we’re proud to have proved the case for making waste beautiful and for contributing to the establishment of a circular economy model in Australia.
The world has changed dramatically since we launched our first recycled woollen blanket in 2016. And thank goodness! We’ll be passing on the torch to many wonderful new businesses that embed circularity and sustainability in their practices. That is, where being concerned with worker’s rights and the natural environment isn’t a key selling proposition anymore, rather considered as normal, obvious and non-negotiable.
Of course, there’s still much work to be done. Trend cycles are only speeding up, and climate changes are more visceral more often for more people. Pressure from the community must not let up. Which brings us to a very important point – acknowledging where that groundswell comes from.
Thank YOU!
To you, family and friends, employees, customers, stockists, suppliers, peers, followers, readers, buyers, models, photographers, academics, journalists, festival programmers and audience members – thank you for supporting us. You are the reason Seljak Brand existed at all. Every query, purchase and recommendation led to the news articles, major purchase orders, award nominations and global presentations that got our ideas out there.
By investing in cosy, durable recycled blankets, you supported us to push the industry to think differently about their waste streams. You were what enabled us to prove that indeed, there are possible tangible ways to make change, now.
How the Seljak spirit will live on
Our final blankets will be on sale
Now’s the time to plan for your first or final blanket purchases! We’ll be on sale to make our blankets more accessible for the next few months, or until stocks last. Keep an eye on our socials and our mailing list for sale announcements.
Honouring our circularity promise
We might be closing our doors, but Seljak blankets themselves will live on for a long time! Our website will remain live, capturing our years of learning through innovation projects and design collaborations. We will leave you with a place to come for blanket care and repair ideas and instructions, and a directory to recycle blankets that have come to the end of their useful life.
We’ll continue to learn and share
We’re taking all that we know and sharing it with whoever needs to hear it. We’re consulting with businesses of all sizes about circularity in action through local councils and corporate agencies. We’re delivering keynotes, masterclasses and mentoring via educational institutions, and pursuing further education ourselves to continue our work at a systems-level.
If you are interested in consultation or educational offerings, or have other ideas, please do get in touch.
So with that, onward. There's so much yet to investigate!
With love,
Sam & Karina Seljak