Catalina J
Catalina J
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WHO WE ARE
Since 2007 she designed for several women’s wear fashion brands, launching her first label collection in 2016 in order to build a strong visual brand identity, dedicated to modern and individual femininity. Catalina J develops a refined construction of actual silhouette with elaborated crafted lines and sharp details inspired from Couture technique.
Dedicated to intelligent, active and stylish woman, dresses Catalina J are the image of a truly modern urban spirit. Her signature stems are empowered by the mix between geometric cuts and pure lines. The outstanding design places the studied grace of feminine body in the spotlight revealing a continuous search of proportion, fabric and color matching.
Headed in the creative process by inspirational themes in continue progress such as art, architecture and technology, the designer highlights a minimalist, yet polished profile with clean cut, soft and superfine adds up to a superior sartorial vision.
An important step in our brand development now is identifying and implementing innovative-sustainable solutions, choosing the right and responsible way of creating.
OUR APPROACH
We are interested in bringing innovative solutions and sustainable approaches through our active research on how to develop, produce and deliver best and original designs for our customers at the same time minimizing impact on the planet.
Our new journey started in 2018 when we decided to use for our next collection organic certified cotton and next steps are to add other low impact and natural fabrics to our designs.
A new challenge that marks a new beginning for our brand strategy – a responsible consuming lifestyle that correctly integrates into our future creative process.
FABRICS
We source the purest and high quality fabrics directly from our certified suppliers which have already a well established reputation and tradition in producing it.
The organic cotton is certified with international Global Organic Standard GOTS and OEKO Tex standard for textile.
Also we use low impact fabrics which biodegrade faster and use less water to produce them: viscose, tencel and recycled fabrics.
Great things are happening in this space, with many more to come!
OUR VISION
We aim to tell stories through our collections, building a strong identity of high quality, ethically made garments with a conscious concept and sustainable practices behind.
We love to create with respect for our customers and the environment. That’s why we decided to integrate the slow fashion process, and to implement ethic and sustainable opportunities for our production, made in EU.
We bring value and enhanced product experiences to our customer – next to creative signature design while using organic certified fabrics for our collections.
Avenue de Broqueville 94 BRUXELLES 1200 Belgium
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About Us
Our story is one about great things. About handy things. About beautiful things.
But above all, about friendship. About four childhood friends who found each other in an unbridled passion for quality and craftsmanship. At Comme Quatre there are therefore few restrictions. We just make what feels true to us. No extravagant fuss, but unarticulated simplicity. With the feeling of being a bit special.
We like to design everyday objects such as a stylish handbag, spectacle box, key ring, wallet, wallet or handkerchief with a few striking features such as the graceful cowhides. A creative trait that we like to mix with our insatiable hunger for adventure, variety and entrepreneurship. Talent is present as well. Each in his or her own way. And love. Lots of love. For each other and for the products we create, and that’s a fact.
Our Story
exquisite & honestly handmade
Not only a brand, Comme Quatre is a creative, playful and human project. All our products are handmade by traditional craftsmen whom we admire for their knowhow, entrepreneurship and courage. Together we create a sustainable product.
#nowaste
A Comme Quatre handbag, just like a pair of glasses, key ring, wallet, wallet or pouch is a nice example of upcycling. Say again? Upcycling goes just a little further than recycling: transforming old and allegedly unusable materials into something valuable and often more beautiful than before. In this way, our cowhides are upcycled from meat waste into a sustainable material that lasts for years and can be broken down by nature after use. The hides are also tanned plant-based, i.e. without the addition of harmful substances.
timeless class
Six collections a year? Not for us. By designing our cowhide accessories to look beyond the latest trends, they are wearable every season. Slow fashion it is. Quality leather products are handmade by traditional craftsmen. For example, a handbag, spectacle case, key ring, wallet or pouch by Comme Quatre is not only fashionable, but also durable.
unique
Each accessory guarantees 100% supple leather and natural cowhide. Each with their own unique print and ditto character. The pattern of the cowhides are different for each accessory, due to the colour differences in the coat of the cow. So every handbag, spectacle case, key ring, wallet or pouch from Comme Quatre is slightly different and always gives a distinctive touch to your outfit.
Our Team
Miloud, chief workshop
“Working with natural products is what I have done all my life. More than 15 years have I been working in this atelier. I am in charge of overseeing the production process, creation of the malls, cutting the hides and leather, and the final inspection of the finished goods.”
Fatima, artisan
“I am the youngest of our team and still in ’training’, learning how to prepare the different components of our products for the knitting team. I love the fact that we start with a cowhide and finish with a bag or accessory which will be cherished by someone for many years. ”
Mbark, artisan
“I have been working in this workshop for more than 15 years. I am mainly in charge of the different knitting machines which we use on leather, cowhide and tissues. I love this variation in my job, and like the fact that we can participate in the creation process of the products.”
Belaid, artisan
“I have been working for more than 10 years in this workshop, but I have been in the fashion industry all my life. I am in charge of assembling the products. I like the interaction between the craftmen and the fact we actively participate in the design and creation process ”
Hafida, artisan
“I am assisting Mbark and Belaid in the preparation of the different parts they need to assemble, in between the different stages of the production, I implement the zippers and closures. I like the fact we create beautiful products.”
Our Values
Conscious Antwerp
Conscious AntwerpMore Info
Hello! Meet CONSCIOUS ANTWERP, and what we stand for.
If you love beautiful and sustainable clothing design as much as we do, you’ve come to the right place. Conscious Antwerp is a new clothing concept created and designed with an eye for both style and sustainability from start to finish. By combining the principles of ‘ethical and sustainable business’ ( which is a very interesting course at UA by the way!) with a passion for quality and design Conscious Antwerp was transformed from dream to reality.
Our mission is to deliver beautiful, high-quality and timeless items with a luxurious yet casual appearance, which you can wear with proud and without guilt!
We deliver this promise by producing locally and with a sustainable use of materials. The reason we chose this more costly manner is because we consciously want to produce fair clothing with a minimal CO2 impact. Now you know that your clothing is not only unique in design but also in value. 😉
Our vision is to become big by staying small, so we don’t do any harm.
Our mission and vision tell our values, but they also determine the external features of our clothing such as shape, color, texture and dimension. The pieces are unique in appearance due to the combination of the leftover materials and the simplicity and longevity of the designs.
‘Only great minds can afford simple style’
Rijnkaai 20 bus1 Antwerp 2000 Belgium
Conni Kaminski
Conni KaminskiMore Info
BEHIND THE BRAND
CONNI KAMINSKI is an ethical and sustainable womenswear designerbrand
100% made in Belgium.
Refined asymmetry, beautiful drapés, deconstructed knitwear, unexpected material mix and upcycling, for a result both original and elegant. The clothes are made from mostly natural and high quality materials such as silk, cotton, linen, merino wool and baby alpaca wool.
Next to the onlineshop, there is the boutique followed by the atelier, located in the historic center of Brussels: come and say hi and discover our universe chic and décalé.
ABOUT THE DESIGNER
Designer of German origin, Conni Kaminski studied fashiondesign and tailoring in Hamburg.
In 2000, she settled permanently in Brussels, and in 2005, the Conni Kaminski brand was created.
In 2008, she opened her store in the historic center of Brussels, behind which you can see the place where the magic happens: her workshop.
ETHICAL AND SUSTAINABLE
While proximity to her customers is a fundamental thing for Conni Kaminski, proximity to her suppliers and manufacturers is no exception. The sourcing of raw materials from different European countries and the production « made in Belgium », including research for fabrics, her pieces are entirely made on the same continent. Far from large productions across the oceans, everything is done via a 100% European network for flawless regulation and visibility of production.
MATERIALS CHOSEN WITH CARE
Because every detail counts, Conni Kaminski always selects for her creations essentially natural and high quality materials, all from European producers, such as silk, cotton, linen, merino wool and baby alpaca yarns, offering to her customers beautiful clothes comfortable to wear.
QUALITY OVER QUANTITY
Avoiding mass overproduction, Conni Kaminski’s clothes are created in limited series with a design both elegant and original. Refusing to get locked into far too ephemeral codes and trends, Conni Kaminski has her own universe. Thus, each of her pieces is a real added value to your wardrobe, as timeless as atypical. Always in the field of sustainability, her creations aim to support the clients in their everyday lives over the long term. Wearing Conni Kaminski is about asserting values and style, while remaining authentic.
HER WAY OF WORKING
For her creations, Conni Kaminski loves playing with the fabric. If her bust molding technique, often used by Japanese designers, honors many drapes, we can also find in her pieces a work of knitwear deconstruction, study of the material to transform it and even upcycle it into something chic and innovative.
We can find in her clothes an elegant asymmetry as well as many material contrasts, bringing all its originality and identity.
THE SHOP
Located in the historic center of Brussels, her shop is where it all happens. If the front door opens onto a beautiful store where you can admire, try and buy her creations, the back window offers us a view of her workshop, separated by an exterior courtyard full of greenery, where the collections are designed, the patterns are drew, the prototypes are created…, in short, a veritable abundance of ideas. It is also from the same place that each online order is sent, carefully packaged before departure.
Flagship store Marche au Charbon/Kolenmarkt, 102 Brussels 1000 Belgium