Janska started with a simple dream to help people live more comfortably and easily—in style. As women discovered our fleece garments, it quickly became apparent that they wanted this same comfort in everyday clothes. Janska responded by expanding our line to include fashionable pieces, based on the same basic premise of ultimate comfort.

Inspiration comes in many forms. For Sue Burns, baabaazuzu founder and lead designer, inspiration came one winter day in the back of her clothes dryer. Had her husband not shrunk some of Sue’s favorite wool sweaters, it could very well be that baabaazuzu would not exist. But the fact is, he did. And out of the tragedy of Sue Burns’ too-small-to-wear, once-adored sweaters arose a multi-million dollar company.

The process behind baabaazuzu’s creations is an age-old process. Felting. Simply put, it’s taking wool sweaters or garments – and in baabaazuzu’s case, it’s taking items that are no longer wanted and could not sell at second-hand stores and are literally a step away from being thrown into landfills – and washing them in very hot water so as to shrink into a very dense, very strong wool “fabric.” Sue then takes the felted material, cuts them up and, with her eye-of-an-artist, purposefully pieces them back together into wearable works of art – hats, mittens, jackets, scarves, etc.