Founder Laura Burghaus is a German born, Aussie raised traditional seamstress, pattern maker, artist and yoga teacher.
Burghaus was professionally trained as a seamstress in Germany, finishing her apprenticeship in 2008 and then moved on to further her skills learning pattern-making in 2010. Burghaus' mission is to create garments, yoga bolsters, mediation cushions and accesories in the most environmentally ethical way she knows how through her company, Kissen Australia.
“I have always been interested in wrapping material around the female figure. When I was young I would make clothes for my dolls. I would cut armholes and make little wrap-around tops and sarongs,” she says.
Burghaus struggles with her love of creating dresses and the challenging issues that surround fashion including waste, chemical dyes, synthetic materials and sweatshops in South America and south-east Asia. Fast fashion is second only to oil in its devastating environmental impacts, and this is why her label uses only fair-trade, organic and/or up-cycled products.
During her apprenticeship as a seamstress, Laura would take out bins filled with fabric offcuts and wonder how she could use these offcuts to make something wonderful. It took a while, but finally Kissen Australia was born!
Kissen bolsters and meditation cushions are filled with fabric offcuts from Australian made garments, preventing industry waste from becoming unnecessary landfill.
Text by Alex Morris
Kissen - A German word that translates to cushion.
Follow kissen on Instagram
