Weaving a Community of Women Through Knitwear

The mother-daughter duo behind Süel Knitwear have a vision that goes beyond the pieces they make. Zsuzsi and Zsuzsanna Csillag wanted to create a community through knitwear, designing clothing that empowers women to express themselves. 

We chatted to Zsuzsi Csillag about their recent project, Süel X Csillag Zsuzi, and how colour, community, and collaboration are woven into every design.

Since the age of 16, I have been part of the design process in the family fashion business. Building my knitwear know-how and expertise was the beginning of a never-ending love affair not only with knitting, but with the community that has always been at the heart of our brand. 

My mother started Süel almost 34 years ago in Budapest, and we are still the same 100% female-owned family business, designing and producing in the heart of Europe. 

Creating a Safe Space for Women

Our downtown showroom is a real “women’s club”. We aim to create a safe space for women to be themselves, not only through the clothing we make, but via a community programme including yoga and pilates sessions, colour consultancy, kids clubs, mental hygiene groups, and aura soma healing. 

Seeing the impact of creating this space within our own community inspired us to look for other ways to support women around us. This year, we will have been working with non-profit organisations fighting to end violence against women for 10 years. 

This started with a charity warehouse fair, using our roots in fashion to make an impact. We auctioned outlet-style fashion that otherwise would not have been sold, with all proceeds going to charities protecting women’s rights. Every year since, we have held the warehouse fair on November 25th, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

Since launching that first fair, we’ve continued to look for ways to support women through our designs. At the height of COVID, I heard from customers that their brightly coloured Süel pieces had energised them during days of endless Zoom calls, bringing vibrancy to the monotony of the indoors. A girl once chased me down at the mall to show me that she was wearing one of our designs! All of this made us wonder how we could bring this energy and empowerment to the women who need it most. 

Using Fashion to Empower and Educate

We wanted to use the space we’d created at our studio, and the confidence-boosting effect that fashion can have, to raise awareness of domestic violence whilst celebrating survivors. And so our Colors for Your Dress Only campaign was born. 

All of the models used for the campaign are survivors of domestic violence. We used the photoshoot to showcase the power of these women, with a portion of the sales going towards The Women For Women Together Against Violence Association (NANE) in Hungary, who we collaborated closely with on the project. 

Growing Our Women-Led Community

We are always looking for women-led brands to collaborate with who share the same values as us. One of our recent discoveries was Éva Reményi, founder of her eponymous jewellery brand Éva Reményi. 

Éva is a mother, designer, craftswoman, and entrepreneur with a vision to reveal inner-femininity through organic shapes. Her inspiration comes from within, mirroring the innate vulnerability that defines our human existence. 

We came across each other through Wolf & Badger. We are both part of their collective of independent brands, and instantly resonated with each other’s work. 

Lifting Each Other’s Voices

The Süel x Csillag Zsuzsi project we were working on at the time included our newest incoming styles, all designed using a multitude of different coloured yarns with a metallic shine to them. As with Éva’s designs, we wanted to create a collection of knit garments that shows the outside world the spark we all have inside. 

From there, we worked on designing a photoshoot with models wearing pieces from both brands. As we had hoped, the beautiful Éva Reményi jewellery collection was the cherry on top of our metallic shine collection. The two types of reflecting surfaces bring out each of their best qualities by highlighting their similarities through contrasting materials. All these details culminated in fantastical, slightly mermaid-inspired photos that we both fell in love with. 

This collaboration brought us together as two brands and as two women – not only for a collaborative photoshoot, but as a way of lifting each other up. Each of us having a community at home, in Hungary, as well as a strong international presence online and offline, we were able to reach and bring together our respective audiences as one. 

Community: The Thread That Binds Us

Collaboration is, of course, a key element when it comes to social media. But it’s also an opportunity to acknowledge that not everyone is a competitor. When we support each other, all of us can shine. 

From my mother’s early designs to our charity work and collaborations, Süel has grown into a true knitwear-lovers paradise in the heart of Europe, with community as the thread that binds us.