Signature discipline — Lustenau mill, Austria
African lace is the fabric of the great occasions. For Aso Ebi — the coordinated dress worn by families and guests at weddings across West and Central Africa — lace is bought in quantities that surprise European fashion houses. What few people realise: most of that fabric is not made in Africa. It has for decades been embroidered on Schiffli machines in Europe, and the centre of that production is Lustenau in Vorarlberg, Austria, with St. Gallen in Switzerland as the only comparable location.
We have been embroidering this fabric since 1999 — on behalf of trading houses, textile publishers and fashion brands across three continents. Under their names, not ours.
Guipure is created by dissolving the base fabric away completely after embroidering. Only the embroidery thread remains, as free-standing lace: heavy, sculptural, with no visible ground. It is the most demanding discipline, because the design has to carry itself — every bar and every connection decides whether the web holds after dissolving or falls apart.
With voile lace the fine base fabric remains and carries the design. The result is lighter, more transparent and drapes more softly. We produce both — which construction suits your design is something we tell you at the feasibility stage.
Many mills in this trade do not only produce — they also sell, and so end up on the shelf next to their own clients. We deliberately do not. Sükün Embroidery is a pure contract manufacturer: no own shop, no own retail label, no direct sales to end customers. Your design, your brand and your market stay yours.
A sample piece, a drawing or an image is enough as a template — provided you hold the rights to it. Punching it into a running embroidery programme, the stitch mechanics and the test run are our work. You receive a hand sample for approval before series production starts.
Details on the process and machinery are on the contract embroidery page.
Richly embroidered lace fabrics for festive dress in West and Central Africa, for instance Aso Ebi at weddings. Most of it is embroidered on Schiffli machines in Europe — Lustenau in Austria is the centre of that production.
With guipure the base fabric is dissolved away after embroidering and only the thread remains as free-standing lace. With voile the fine ground remains and carries the design — lighter and more transparent.
No. We are a pure contract manufacturer for trading houses, textile publishers and fashion brands. No shop, no retail label, no direct sales — your goods stay yours.
Lustenau has been a Schiffli centre since the 19th century. Large machines, accumulated punching and design knowledge and trained specialists exist in only a few regions — chiefly Vorarlberg and neighbouring St. Gallen.
If you hold the rights, yes. A sample piece or an image is enough as a template.
Gold and effect yarns are standard stock in the mill. Which yarn suits your design and ground fabric is settled in the sample.