We recently collaborated with our friend, Alicia Tsi of Esse the Label, to create the capsule loungewear of our dreams. Designed to be cosy, functional, and versatile, the limited-edition collection features luxurious rompers, camisoles, shorts, and eyemasks made from our offcuts and post-industrial fabric. Below, Alicia, as well as our co-founders, Clara and Alex, talk us through how the collaboration came together.
Behind the Collection: Repose
What brought Sunday Bedding and Esse the label together?
Clara: I first met Alicia at her Joo Chiat studio. I came over to do some exchange for some stuff that I bought online and we just started chatting. We realised that both of our brands have very similar approaches to textile sustainability. We’ve always wanted to do something about our excess fabric and offcuts and decided to work together!
Alex: Yeah. The environmental cost of textile production is a growing concern. Generally, up to 15% of fabric is often wasted during the manufacturing process. As one of the few brands with direct access to our supply chain, we want to continue to do our part in reducing waste and being more sustainable.
Unlike garment manufacturing, fabric offcuts from bedding manufacturing can be more easily adapted into usable products. With this collection, we really wanted to show that collaborations, even across different segments of the textile industry, can lead to a more circular production process and more regenerative ideas.
Alicia: We thought a loungewear capsule would be apt, since Sunday Bedding is known for their bed linen — and what better way to complement their beautiful sheets with comfortable loungewear that goes beyond the bedroom? The timing of our launch couldn’t be more apt as well because loungewear is on the verge of completely taking over our wardrobes.
Alex: As many of continue to work from home, it has become harder to demarcate where work ends and home begins. That really got us thinking about how we can create and weave moments of rest for our customers.
Snippets from our campaign shoot.
What’s the inspiration behind Repose?
Alicia: Repose is a state of rest, sleep, or tranquility. It is also a state of mind. We were inspired by this worry-free state of mind and wanted to create a collection that help the wearers to feel more at ease and carefree.
Clara: Through this collection, we hope we can bring that restful state of mind to our customers. We’ve also used our bamboo bedding fabric. Hopefully, as our customers are working throughout the day, the pieces can act as a reminder of how their bed feels at the end of the day and that can help them relax better!
Repose is made using offcuts and post-industrial fabric from Sunday Bedding’s production. What’s the difference between offcuts and post-industrial fabric?
Alex: When manufacturing home textiles, we will always have excess fabric on the side of the rolls that we can never really utilise. These are what we refer to as traditional offcuts — smaller pieces of fabric left over from the production run. Post-industrial fabric refers to fabrics already dyed but have not been through the process of cutting and sewing.
Factories typically have to order and dye more fabric than what is needed to account for sampling and possible dyeing errors. Although our factory’s fabric utilisation rate is 95% — higher than the industry average of 85-90% — this is still a significant amount of fabric left unused! With Repose, we managed to save about 310m of offcuts and post-industrial fabric. This equates to about 2m per romper, 1m per camisole, and 1.5 per pair of shorts.
Tell us more about the design process. What were some of the challenges of using offcuts and post-industrial fabric?
Alicia: While Esse has used offcuts for their own upcycling projects, it was quite exciting to be able to use bedding offcuts to make garments! Bed linens typically have standardised sizes, so there are more ‘regular’ shaped offcuts to use. But like most offcuts, there are some bigger panels, as well as some smaller, more irregular shaped fabrics.
We took all these into consideration when designing the capsule and intentionally created loungewear pieces with more components and trimmings to maximise the usage of the offcuts. For example, trimmings on the waistband of the shorts, straps on the rompers, and smaller accessories like the eye masks.
Designing this capsule has really been an exercise in rethinking and challenging existing techniques of design! The design process has been very much led by the goal of reducing fabric waste, while still creating wearable and beautiful products.
How long did it take to create the collection?
Alicia: It took us about a year. We spent two months just for sampling, fitting, and prototyping. It was quite challenging as I couldn’t be there physically and everything was done via emails and phone calls. It took us an additional 2.5 just for production. We worked with a small studio in Batam, Indonesia, to produce the pieces. With so many different offcuts, our seamstresses definitely had their work cut out for them!
What’s your favourite piece from the collection?
Alicia: The romper! It’s really chic and comfortable. It has a deep neckline that pairs well with a bralette or a camisole. If it’s a little chilly or you want to feel more put together, you can also throw on a jacket, an oversized cardigan, or even a haori over it.
Alicia is wearing our Nautical Blue Repose Romper in size S,
Clara: Definitely the romper. I like how comfy it is. I also like that the romper comes with a mini strap to prevent the romper from falling off your shoulders. The one I’m wearing now actually features the Drizzling Rain design, which was our first ever print design that we launched two years ago.
Clara is wearing our Drizzling Rain Repose Romper in size S,
- Made with 100% bamboo rayon bed-linen offcuts and deadstock fabric
- Ethically produced in Batam, Indonesia
- Cooling & moisture-wicking
Garment Care
- Machine-washable on cool with similar colours
- Line or tumble dry on low
- Avoid using fabric softeners and products containing benzol peroxide, chlorine bleach, or alpha hydroxy acids as they can stain the fabric
Campaign photography by Monica Anne Lie (@luxmondi) for Sunday Bedding and Esse the Label. Featuring Krystal T, founder of Blue Sky Escapes.