Today we’d like to introduce you to Violette Challe.
Violette, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
It’s hard to really pinpoint where this story started, fashion has always been at the pinnacle of my existence literally since I was able to dress myself. Thinking back, there were little memories, little things that happened; that for some reason made a more profound impact on me, which contributed to the woman I am today. Like the time, my brother and I got yelled at for dressing my brother up as a princess. I was four and my brother was two, I styled him in a Sleeping Beauty wig, my favorite Esmeralda costume dress, and plastic rhinestone slingbacks. I showed him his reflection, he glowed, the most beautiful princess I had ever seen.
We ran excited to my uncle who was watching us that day, he glowed too, but red with anger as he blew up and screamed at us for ‘disrespecting’ my two-year-old brother’s manhood. I was crestfallen and angry, why was the joy and twinkle of dress up only an encounter allowed to be experienced by girls?? Not beautiful round-headed boys like my baby brother? There was another time in 2nd grade when I was mobbed on the playground for wearing my brother’s Spiderman shirt because Spiderman shirts were not to be worn by girls. I clearly just really never understood the ‘rules’ of gendered clothing. Or the time when I was ten and was gifted a lifesize Barbie for Christmas.
One morning Britney Spears “Oops I Did It Again” played on MTV music videos, I was mesmerized by the fashion ingenuity that was Britney’s red PVC catsuit. So I decided to make it. Three rolls of my father’s red electrical tape later, Barbie was decked out in the exact replica of Britney’s catsuit. When my dad saw it, he was in awe. He could not believe it, and he kept asking me, “you MADE that, out of ELECTRICAL TAPE?!” “I can’t believe you made that!” He was awestruck and proud. So was I, the feeling of unmatched pride I felt that day, it was such an amazing, exhilarating feeling. It is this moment that I come back to so frequently when 12 years later, I decide to become a designer.
When I moved to San Diego in 2015, I did not plan on going into fashion, but rather, finance. Growing up and even after high school I never actually really wanted to go to college, but as a first-generation college student, and coming from a cycle of poverty, I felt (and was frequently told) that college was the necessary variable to end up in a better financial position than my family had before me. When I first started down here, it was really hard and I struggled to balance a full-time job, full-time school schedule and a social life. My first year I got fired from my waitress job and I almost failed out, but when I didn’t, I had proved to myself that I could do it.
It was around this time I started to realize I could do anything I could put my mind too. I got better grades and made the deans list, I got a better job and was promoted to management, and then I got an internship with the German parliament. I was doing every single thing on the list that they gave me of things I needed to do to be a happy, fulfilled college student, and I was miserable. I felt bored with life, filled with an existential dread of “this is not what I want out of life.” But I was too scared to quit, to change paths, too afraid that I would fail without a degree. So I picked up my old shopping addiction as a means of escape, and almost every day I’m in at least one store or another. As you can imagine, at this time of my life I am visiting a lot of stores.
And this is where Deconstructed Vintage really got it starts because I am in all of these stores and every single store just has something I don’t like about it. I was tired of seeing the same aesthetic of models from every company. And as someone who has never felt restricted by gender specifics in fashion, I was often surprised by how uncomfortable my partner or I would feel in the boys or men sections of stores. As well as how dramatically different boys and men’s clothes fit people with more petite bodies. I was also extremely disappointed to realize how the quality of ‘new clothing’ has just completely dropped off over the last decade. I was buying something, wearing it for a week and then finding holes at the seams the next time I washed it. This really turned me back on to exclusively shopping secondhand.
Which I find to be better in terms of material quality, styles and size variance however, when thrift shopping I would grow frustrated with the jumbled organization of ‘men’s clothes’ vs ‘women’s clothes.’ I would often go looking for a specific type of item and leave either empty-handed or with ten items that I did not come for. I started thinking that it would be more effective and a better shopping experience to not categorize by gender but rather create a fluid shopping experience where clothes are separated based on clothing style and material rather than something as vague as gender. I decided since I couldn’t find one, I would create a shopping experience that would be more comfortable and inclusive, as well as being a more effective way at allowing second-hand shoppers to shop by style, something that is usually only reserved for fast fashion sites.
In addition to providing a more fluid and comfortable shopping experience, I also wanted a more dynamic group of models for my campaign. Models who were not frequently represented in the mainstream at the level that they should be. I wanted to do this because of all the times that fashion’s lack of representation made me or a friend feel poorly about ourselves. I wanted to change the experience a lot of people get from fashion photography, from one of feeling as though their not enough, to one that inspires confidence and self-love through representation. I came up with the concept of Deconstructed Vintage roughly around September/October 2018 and then the website and social media campaigns debuted in January of 2019.
It was at this time that I realized my dream was fashion not politics or finance, and I eventually dropped out of school and quit my job to focus on my business full time. And yeah, now we’re here. It’s been a little over a year, I just recently brought on the very first member of my team, which was something that was so exciting to me because I want to see all the people I love eat at my table. I am currently working on my very first collection of upcycled designs for production and beginning to lay the framework for an accessibility in vintage campaign which is what I currently am most excited for. We just started our first round of funding, we’re steadily growing, and we’re meeting so many amazing people along the way, I’m just really excited about the journey.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I love this question. For myself, most of my struggles actually came before the business. School is hard when you’re young and kids can be mean. In middle school and high school, I started to be embarrassed of the things I liked, the things that made me so different from the people who seemed cool, people I thought I wanted to be like. And so by senior year, I had become a fast fashion clone, you couldn’t tell me apart from any of my friends in a group and I loved it. Because for the first time in my life I finally felt accepted.
A very short-lived acceptance, because I felt so ashamed of the very things that had always brought me so much joy. Back then, I felt so unaccepted just for the way I was, and so without even realizing, I changed into someone who I thought would be accepted. I changed into someone I didn’t even really like, someone whose life I was living when I said: “This is not what I want out of my life” at 22 years old. It took me a long time to get back to the ‘real me,’ the person who did what actually made them happy without a worry of what anyone else thought. But once I got back to her, things really blossomed.
Being my true self, allowed me to make true friends, friends who have encouraged me and helped me make my dream a reality, who helped make my road smooth. Almost all of my models are my friends, and in that sense they are also my muses because they’ve really just inspired me so much. My advice to everyone on this is learn to love yourself as soon as possible and then everything else will fall into place. Learn to accept yourself for who you are and treasure the things that make you different than those around you because that is what makes you special and unique.
Your acceptance of yourself is the ONLY acceptance that matters. If you have to change who you are, or how you act, or how you dress, in order to feel accepted, you’ll feel worse than you did before you changed because now you don’t even accept yourself. And if you don’t accept yourself how will you be able to believe anyone else does? After I figured myself out, everything really has fallen into place for the most part. I’ve found that what it really comes down to is, you get what you put in.
The harder you work, the more time you put in, the better the results. I mean obviously the road hasn’t always been smooth, in the very beginning funding was a bit of an issue. I knew when I started Deconstructed Vintage that I would use most of my money as a way to put forward future upcycled vintage fashion lines into production but in the beginning every single sale I made I had to invest right back into the business.
I still do this for the most part, but I also set a good amount aside for my future endeavors and that has really alleviated a lot of pressure that I put on myself. Besides I went to highschool in a rural suburbia, I’m used to bumpy roads. My advice to anybody out there who wants to start a new journey is not to let anybody, including yourself, put you in a box. Do not allow yourself to be boxed in. Don’t let anyone tell you what you have to do or be to be happy or successful. Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t be something or someone.
You can be or do whatever you want in this life, only your mind is the limit. Anybody can start a company, START SMALL! And utilize your resources! Figure out a product to sell, something you could make or resell, name your product, and use a free logo maker to design the logo for it. Set up shop! Use sites like Etsy, Depop, eBay, Poshmark and other marketplace apps to sell your wares. Finally, set up a few social media pages to promote and make sales through dm. Find local markets to set up a table at. And my final advice, keep your mind on your money girl, ALWAYS.
Deconstructed Vintage – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I am the head designer, stylist, creative director and photographer for Deconstructed Vintage. I pretty much do everything but I am so fortunate because now my friend Jess updates my website and one of my platforms for me which is honestly a huge load off my shoulders. I think what Deconstructed Vintage is known for is the clothing store that loves you. And loves the earth. Because that’s how I want people to feel from the Deconstructed Vintage shopping experience, I want them to feel represented and seen and loved because they matter.
And because vintage clothing is so good for the earth. This is also something that I am so proud of. I’m proud of our commitment to innovation and accessibility for everyone in fashion. Because of this, we are currently seeking our first round of funding to put two clothing lines into production. The first line seeks to provide the answer to the inconsistency of vintage fashion by creating pieces from outdated vintage styles or textiles or materials, which are then updated into the modern fits and styles.
The second line is the one I’m most excited about. It’s adaptable vintage clothing, made for people with physical disabilities. Essentially vintage clothing that is retrofitted with modified details and closures to make it easier to get in and out. Just continuing to make fashion equitable. I think our commitment to what is good is really what sets us apart from the rest.
Do you think there are structural or other barriers impeding the emergence of more female leaders?
Great question! Personally I feel like more of the barriers posed to my leadership are more socioeconomic than they are gendered. The obstacles that I have been faced with as the leader of this company come down to budgeting and funding. Finding the money to put the ideas that I have for my brand into production. Honestly, I’ve never really listened to anything that told me I couldn’t do something because “I’m a girl,” so if there’s been any of that noise, I probably just tuned it out without even realizing it.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.deconstructedvintage.com
- Email: deconstructedvintage@gmail.com
- Instagram: @deconstructedvintage
Image Credit:
Cat Gorman (Picture of me)
Violette Challe (All of the other photos)
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