Maison Valentino collaborates with Tissu Market for a creative and responsible reuse of their stock of fabrics
Awaken the beauty hidden among the halls of the textile archive, unfurling it into the sunlight: a fairy-tale mission. That’s what the collaboration initiated by Maison Valentino with Tissu Market is about, so as to give shape to a new project, “Valentino Sleeping Stock”, aimed at the creative reuse of its stock of “sleeping” fabrics. A real textile treasure that is synonymous with artisan craftsmanship, which comes from the Haute Couture and Prêt-à-porter collections, Women’s and Men’s.
The partnership, already started in September 2021, fits perfectly within the conscious driven approach of the Maison and its mindset of giving back with attention to the territory, and identified in the French reseller, founded in 2010 by Franck Lellouche, the ideal partner, due to his experience and care to the added value that fabrics can give, his attention to responsible creativity, and his close connection to people who belong to the world of art, cinema, opera, theatre and fashion schools. Thus, chiffons, taffetà, dévoré satins, crêpes de chines with floral prints, silk georgettes and guipure lace used in the Maison’s collections, preserved in the archives and otherwise destined to no longer be used, find new life. A practically natural operation for a Maison that has long been committed to restoring beauty and value to the community to which it belongs.
The ultimate goal, with this as with all the other activities that Maison Valentino has promoted and embraced, is to make a difference, carrying forward the values and the brand heritage while building, one step at a time, a new path of continuous evolution also in the search for alternative solutions to generate a positive change, giving life to creativity and reusing fabrics born for different projects in new creations and visions. Unique fabrics, rich of fascinating stories yet to be told and still too much alive to lie unused in the archives, thus initiate a new life cycle, and returning as protagonists, in the name of creativity and new areas of use. Maison Valentino collaborates with Tissu Market for a creative and responsible reuse of their stock of fabric.
“A deep, personal and shared conviction lies at the origins of this initiative: the importance of upcycling as a driving force towards the change we aim to establish in the fashion industry. The pursuit of excellence, inclusivity and commitment through the creative process are some of the chore values that we share and will guide the next steps of this unique partnership”.
Frank Lellouche, Founder Tissu Market
A partnership, between Maison Valentino and Tissu Market, which has so far unfurled about 22,000 meters of Haute Couture and Prêt-à-porter fabrics, avoiding the emission of about 265t of CO2e that would have been generated for the production of new fabrics, correspondent to the removal of CO2e performed by 5 hectares of forest in one year. Furthermore, thanks to this synergy, a saving deriving from the absence of production of new fabrics of approximately 1.105.645 m3 of water has been estimated, equal to the volume of 442 Olympic swimming pools.
In terms of virtuous regeneration, which is a unique feature of the Maison’s giving-back approach, the proceeds from the sales of the fabrics to Tissu Market will be entirely donated to Valentino’s Bottega dell’Arte, a six-month training program born in 2015 with the aim of training professionals for the Atelier and transmitting the Maison’s sartorial savoir-faire to future generations, becoming multipliers and promoters of knowledge that is unique in the world.
Born out of the Maison’s deep respect and constant commitment towards the new generations, the initiative naturally fits within the brand DNA, aimed at creating opportunities for growth and development, stimulating creativity and giving tools to young talents at the beginning of their careers, so that they can make the most of these experiences, also gaining in personal growth.
And this is a perfect way to close a virtuous circle, within which the fabrics, that have experienced multiple lives within the collections conceived by the Creative Director, Pierpaolo Piccioli, continue to be material witnesses of the ultimate search for beauty. A project that ideally marks a before and an after: Maison Valentino is in fact the first Maison de Couture which, through Tissu Market, transparently communicates and makes its dormant stock accessible to private individuals who can use it for their own creativity.
A new use through a synergetic upcycling operation with Tissu Market. A desired act and a conscious and natural step, close to the giving-back philosophy, and yet disruptive in its novelty. A choice undertaken with the awareness of having found the ideal partner in Tissu Market, a retailer historically connected to the world of art and a support to the creativity of future talents.
Valentino Sleeping Stock project is destined to last in time, organically embracing the conscious-driven mindset of the Maison: a further piece in a mosaic in continuous construction, which generates and re-generates beauty and creativity, sharing it with the external world. Reawakening the poetic potential of a timeless and “dormant” textile heritage in the archives, responsibly delivering it to a new creative life and building, together, a future that is ever more attentive and aware of the protection of the planet and the creative involvement of its community.
