Sevil Edydzh - The traditional is always in vogue!

Since her youth, her life has been closely intertwined with the search for new design forms of modern clothing and the preservation of traditional techniques of the gold embroidery art of the Adyghes (Circassians). Circassian designer, teacher, embroiderer , Sevil Edydzh remains devoted to his favorite work for many years and does not cease to improve her skills in braiding. Having mastered the technology of making wedding dresses in the traditional style, headscarves, shawls and hats for a long time, she brought her own elements to them. And combining modern fashion with traditions of the Adyghe people, she, professional designer, creates unique vintage items by decorating them with braided accessories and woven laces, and she is thinking today about making souvenirs in the technique of braiding.

Sevil Edydzh tells herself about her professional path and hobby as follows:
“I graduated from the school of fashion designers back in Turkey. Then I started teaching first at school, then at technical school, and then at institute. So I worked for 21 years. After my family moved to Adygea, I started sewing traditional saes and stylized wedding dresses. Having time, I decided to devote myself to my hobby – the gold embroidery. In order to preserve the traditions of our people, I was looking for ways to use gold embroidery products in modern fashion. During this period, I made hats, decorative whips, and scarves with ethnic style decorations.
Certainly, in Adygea I did not cease to be interested in what Circassian craftswomen were doing in Turkey. Each time I studied their works and then created my own based on them. For example, chiffon shawls of different colors, decorated with both embroidered ornaments and braiding products. For several years now, I have been showing them together with traditional hats at different exhibitions.
At one time, when I was creating wedding dresses, I wanted to make one particular collection and show it. But because of the circumstances, I gave preference to braiding. I like to create my works with threads of different colors, and not just with gold or silver ones, as it is traditional among the Adyghes. However, I preferred to sew wedding dresses of white silk rather than red velvet. For me, the white has always been and remains the color of purity. At the same time, for the manufacture of hats, scarves and capes, I choose the appropriate black fabrics. Usually, this color suits everyone. I like to decorate them with braiding of silver threads”.

In fact, the bright color palette of the Sevil Edydzh braiding products, the variety of their forms, the elegance of their compositions created by the craftswoman tasteful, largely distinguishes her skill. Wise to herself, she tries to bring her work to perfection, taking into account innovations in clothing and accessories designs, while maintaining the traditional as much as possible.

“We, masters, should try to preserve traditions, especially in sewing of wedding dresses, festive and everyday clothes. Surely, it would be good if a workshop for production of ethno-clothing works in Adygea. For example, dresses with breast accessories, shirts with buttons made of Adyghe braid, scarves and headscarves with braided ornaments. Unfortunately, there is no such workshop yet. But it would be great if modern Adyghe women who cannot wear sae or even stylized dresses casually could decorate themselves with either a silk or chiffon scarf with braiding or wonderful ethno-accessories. This also applies to children. For boys and girls, we can also make beautiful handbags in the ethnic style.
However, to create such clothes, whether traditional or stylized, we need good fabrics and high-quality gold and silver threads. And they are very expensive. There are no such materials here in Adygea, they need to be brought. In addition, when choosing a fabric for sewing a wedding dress, it is worth considering that velvet, although a beautiful material, but working with it requires a great skill. It is better to take satin or silk. This is for women's clothing. And for men, wool is preferable”.

Nowadays, with an unspoken refusal to use weaving items, the footage of which reaches up to 25 meters per one sae, modern designers prefer to sew stylized dresses. And these author's works are sometimes similar to traditional Adyghe sae only in cut. Sevil Edydzh, as a professional designer and master of gold embroidery of the Adyghes, admits both classical forms and author's approaches to the clothing stylization.

“In my opinion, it is necessary to be able to sew traditional sae, and let them make stylized dresses. Although I prefer to decorate modern clothes with ethno-accessories, shawls and capes with braiding. Even we must let hand embroidery be replaced by machine embroidery on traditional dresses in order to reduce their cost and speed up the process of their manufacture.  But at the same time they should have woven items on them. Another question is from what threads should they be woven? In fact, there are gold and silver threads that cannot be deteriorated with washing. Thanks to such threads, it is possible to sew modern European dresses using accessories made in the Adyghe ethnic style. There will be both fashionable and traditional”.

 Despite the fact that Sevil Edydzh is looking for new design forms for her works, she is also engaged in the reconstruction of antique items, or recreating works of old craftswomen. Her results are very similar to their standards. When creating them, she tries herself to adhere to the Adyghe gold embroidery traditions.

“I think the modern craftsmen should do reconstruction from time to time to improve their skills. To do this, of course, we need to visit museums, study exhibits, and look for approaches to remaking their works and for necessary materials for it. This is a very serious and painstaking labor. In the future, I hope to do it and I still think now about souvenirs in the technique of braiding,"  the craftswoman shared her intentions.

Many years of experience in fashion design and gold embroidery art of the Adyghes help Sevil Edydzh to combine them in his works and create beautiful things with ethnic-style accessories. By creating the new using the traditional, the Circassian designer not only preserves the ancient techniques of Adyghe gold embroidery, but also develops them, thereby contributing to the emergence of new trends in the modern fashion world. Although, and she is firmly convinced of it, the traditional is always in vogue!