In honor of Fashion Revolution Week, Kate & Jules and renēe are collaborating on a small collection of upcycled kimonos: older K&J kimonos woven in Belgium are being reworked into unique kimonos with renēe's patchwork expertise.
Cathérine Standaert (K&J founder) and Zoë De Cock (renēe founder) are both from Ghent and both have a passion for environmentally conscious fashion.
With her brand renēe, Zoë's work is known for its upcycling. Cathérine is a fan of the first hour. For example, she reworked some old shirts for a friend of Cathérine's and transformed them into lovely dresses and tops. K&J had a deadstock of beautiful kimonos woven in Belgium that she wanted to breathe new life into. That gave the K&J team an idea: a collaboration between the brands!
During their first meeting, they sat around the table and knew very quickly which direction they wanted to go in. They wanted to create a small collection together that would reflect the personality of each brand.
"With old K&J woven kimonos and the patchwork expertise of renēe, this is a match made in heaven." - Cathérine and Zoë
Handmade kimonos
The kimono had to be summery, eye catching, easy going and easy to combine: perfect to wear on simple jeans and sneakers or with a nice summer dress and sandals. Zoë's kimono design was perfect for this: the asymmetrical elements and sophisticated sewing make the kimono special and the combination with jeans makes it very easy to wear.
K&J and renēe selected the most beautiful kimonos in the deadstock. These were then cut into pieces and skillfully sewn back together by hand. Each kimono is handmade in the renēe atelier in Ghent. There are three different color combinations, each with its own unique character. 
Each color combination has its own name that starts with the first letters of the words: Fashion Revolution Week. The first item in the collection is called Flo, the green colored cotton with dark jeans. Next we have the dark blue Ryss, which is combined with dark blue jeans. Last we have Willow, the mix of both cotton fabrics and white jeans.
"I love reinterpreting existing clothing into something completely different. By upcycling Kate&Jules' kimonos with jeans, we can appeal to a new audience and still find the right use for these pieces." - Zoë
Sustainability
renēe is a hero at transforming forgotten and unsold garments, used garments into a beautiful shirt dress, top, kimono or skirt. The team collects forgotten and unsold garments and rediscovers their value by experimenting with different colors and patterns.
Sustainability is also a priority for K&J. All collections are made with sustainably produced, carefully selected materials that will stand the test of time and they use, reuse and recycle whenever possible to give new life to leftover fabrics.
" Our Belgian woven kimonos were too close to our hearts to stay in a box. Zoë has made them current again in her typical way." - Cathérine
Availability
This limited edition collection is in honor of Fashion Revolution Week and will launch simultaneously on both the Kate & Jules and renēe websites on Saturday, April 21.
The collection is available on pre-order only, so no stock and work will be lost. Order them between April 21 and May 5 and they will be delivered no later than May 26. Don't wait too long to order this collection because gone is gone.
Kate & Zoë are both so proud of this collection. They put their creativity and expertise into this collaboration and they can't wait to share it with you all!
