CATHERINE VALENTIN's couture house

Our mission

To inspire women, far from the dictates of fashion . To offer a new way to wear the kimono in your daily life with elegance and simplicity. To feel your emotions, to respect your body shape for more well-being, inner beauty and radiant joy.

Confidences...

“There were three of us kids sitting in the back of the AMI 6.

Remember the sloping rear window, protected by a cap? Even in the rain, when my father glanced in the rearview mirror, nothing escaped him.

For now, what he was looking at was the door of the house, where my mother would appear. The engine was already running and the smoke from his Gitane was billowing out the sliding window. It was Sunday, the weather was nice.

She finally arrived, my father's wife. Hair and makeup done, carrying a small black patent leather bag, like her spool-heeled pumps. The door opened. Do you remember how women of that era got into cars? First their buttocks, then their left leg, finally their right leg, and the door closed.

Birth of a brand

Other precious moments of my childhood were the seeds of the designer I became. They allowed me to access directly the secret of desire , the language of textiles, this cryptographic writing that we call elegance , and which is only understandable to the eyes of certain people. I will nevertheless make a detour into industry as a chemical engineer. It was the birth of my daughters that gave me the trigger to take up this abandoned road again. Self-taught at heart , training at Supdemod-Lyon and at the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture in Paris will complete my curriculum.

In 2004, I founded my eponymous brand , Maison CATHERINE VALENTIN. The workshop was then dedicated to the creation of tailor-made high-end clothing for feminine and demanding women. Listening to their expectations, I understand to what extent clothing is an extension of oneself . It demonstrates a strong desire for singularity.

At the same time, I have been working tirelessly on the kimono since the beginning of my professional transition, and it will become my centerpiece from 2018. This iconic piece from Japan, which is not yet part of our culture, has no equal in my eyes for expressing femininity with simplicity and authenticity .

Jacquard textile

My encounter with jacquard textiles dates back to my childhood neighbors: weavers, who regularly delighted me by giving me fabric samples. It was here that, seemingly out of the blue, I learned the smell of textiles, their texture, their drape, their light, the colors between them, the flowers, the silk...

What I love about jacquard is that it's reversible. It reveals a front and back whose pattern can be radically different but equally sumptuous. These textiles fascinate me like the two facets of a person: interiority and exteriority. They leave plenty of room for a story to be told, an inner journey to be experienced.

It is always with this same memory , this same appetite, this same passion , that during the sourcing period , I go to feel the vibration of the patterns to be defined with our weaver . I am always keen to transmit in all humility, this something which will touch the sensitivity of each person when they wear their kimono .

All our jacquard fabrics are certified OEKO-TEX®100.

Jacquard Kimonos

A little history...

The jacquard weaving process was invented by Joseph-Marie Jacquard, a silk maker from Lyon in 1800. It was a revolution, as it allowed the pattern to be woven directly rather than printed. The looms were impressive in the number of different threads used. This new technique brought a great deal of texture and character to textiles.

Discover our iconic pieces