Valentine Tinchant

A new life for old, broken and discarded clothes

Fashion designer Valentine Tinchant is known for her quirky clothing line made from upcycled materials. She turns old clothes into brand new pieces that she also gives just that little bit more. This is catching on, as several artists - including Lady Gaga's stylist - have already found their way to her collections.

Old clothes: inexhaustible resource

Valentine: "I have always seen a lot of beauty in waste. That has inspired me. As a teenager, I used to cut up my clothes and reassemble them with dozens of pins. When I studied at Polimoda Fashion School in Italy, I saw how much reusable fabric ended up in the dustbin and how much waste the fashion industry pollutes the world with. That's when I decided to take responsibility as a young designer to minimise and upcycle waste. Because by reusing discarded clothes, you have an inexhaustible source of raw materials."

Circular centipede

"Personally, I also like clothes composed from old garments better than new clothes. It also gives me a lot more inspiration and makes designing really fun." And that delivers: the least you can say about her designs is that they are eye-catching and original. As a result, she has already collaborated with Essentiel Antwerp and Xandres and was able to upcycle leftover stock from well-known fashion brands. She works for various companies as a freelance designer, coach or consultant. For example, for Saamo where she runs the sewing studio, Okret and New Order of Fashion where she is a freelance designer and teaches workshops. She also runs her own upcycling studio where she transforms her clients' old pieces into new designs.