Born and raised in New York City, Elisa Yip had been in the fashion world for over 20 years before launching Sskein (pronounced skan) in 2020. "I left Nordstrom during Covid and this was the perfect opportunity to finally create my own brand," she says. Yip runs the company from Bellevue now, and has built up a devoted clientele who purchase Sskein for timeless, high-quality knitwear that is crafted from natural fibers and easy to pair with other pieces in one's closet. Investing in clothing that is durable, beautiful, and won't go out of style makes getting dressed each morning a pleasure.
Yip positioned her company firmly in the "slow fashion" lane, and says, "I've seen the good and the bad in fashion. If I'm going to put more clothing out there, it needs to be intentional and have a reason to exist." Choosing alpaca fiber as one of her main materials was just such an intentional choice. Warmer than cashmere, with hollow fibers that trap heat, alpaca is a sustainable material in multiple ways: The animals have soft hooves that don't cause soil erosion in the way that sheep do, it's naturally anti-microbial so resists odor and doesn't require frequent washing, and it lasts much longer than other knitwear textiles. Sskein contracts with a fair-wage factory in Peru, which employs mostly single moms and teaches them the skills to manufacture the garments.
In the service of longevity, each Sskein piece comes with extra yarn wrapped around the hang tag, so if a repair is needed, a perfect match is available. Sskein works with FXRY, a local alteration and knitwear mending shop, to help extend the life of its clothing. When a customer is ready to retire a Sskein product, another partner called Givebackify makes it easy for her to send in the item, and receive an incentive for doing so, thus keeping it out of the landfill. "There are always new ways to make the world a little bit better," says Yip, "I love to see Sskein available for resale too, for customers who buy second-hand luxury clothing."
Sskein's customers are often women from their 30's-60's, with established careers and/or families. They value elegance and versatility in their wardrobes, and appreciate that the brand's fit remains the same with every release, so it's easy to add to their collections. Yip says, "I'm designing for the modern woman, women with evolving careers and lives. Style is all about self-expression - when I'm designing knitwear, I have to love it, and I think about how I would wear it. When I design a capsule collection, it's not just about the products, it's about the practice; the ritual and the lifestyle."
Word of mouth, influencers, and stylists across the country help Sskein continue to develop its clientele. Yip hosts eight to ten pop-up shops in the last few months of each year (refer to the "Events" page of Sskein.co for information), and offers personal styling online. In addition, the line is offered from the Nordstrom website and app, allowing new customers to be introduced to Sskein products. Yip educates her own teenage daughter about the value of buying less and buying better quality, and plans to continue using intentionality as her north star for design.