EXCLUSIVE: Meet the Other Van Noten With a Fixation for Flowers

PARIS — It turns out Dries is not the only Van Noten obsessed with flowers.

His relative Sophie Van Noten hopes to make a name for herself with the launch of Vallverdù, a line of clothing inspired by the ancient Indian practice of Ayurveda, which she describes as a fusion between wellness and fashion.

A graduate of Istituto Marangoni in Florence, she’s opening an atelier in the Italian city for bespoke appointments that include a full consultation. Expect to come away with anything from a silk garment in a personalized print to a custom herbal tea or facial cream.

“This personal one-to-one with the clients, and really listening to them and being there for them, is something I very much treasure,” Van Noten told WWD. “For me, it goes further than solely making a garment. I want the clients to learn something about themselves.”

The 26-year-old became interested in Ayurvedic medicine after struggling with migraines. She grew aware of the harmful effects of toxic chemicals used to dye clothes. 

“I felt like I was not really listening to my body,” she recalled. “We can be so obsessed by the things we eat, how our body absorbs that, but we very much ignore all the other things that we absorb through the skin.”

This led her to spend a year in the southern Indian state of Kerala, including five months in an Ayurvedic hospital, where she studied disciplines including cosmic herbalism and Ayurvedic massage.

“I really immersed myself in the wellness aspect, making the medicinal oils and the skin masks and all those botanical concoctions, because I think we very much underestimate the power of herbs,” she said. “If we use them in the right way, it can do so much for your body.”

After returning to Belgium, she started experimenting with botanical dyes, using flowers and herbs from her grandmother’s garden. Vallverdù was launched last year via private client appointments and now has an official home in Florence, a city she views as her spiritual home for its commitment to craftsmanship.

“Always when I’m here, I feel this is my space, this is my place, so I’m very happy now that I can finally settle here,” she said. “People nowadays are in need of a shared space of intimacy, so we want to be there for the client.”

On the luxury end of the collection are garments made from so-called peace silk, which is produced without harming the silkworms. Following a consultation, these are dyed in bespoke prints with plants from the family garden, or organic farms in Italy. 

“I start from scratch to create for you, because I think that’s also the most interesting aspect of the concept: what is your type, which herbs are beneficial for you, which print, which landscape we can imagine together,” Van Noten explained.

Then there are dressing gowns made of Ayurvastra eco-friendly wellness textiles: handwoven organic cotton dyed in India using Ayurvedic herbs and plants. These are designed to provide benefits when worn on bare skin, and remain effective provided they are hand-washed with pH-neutral soap.

Prices start at 1,500 euros and go up to 5,000 euros for a blazer with handmade ceramic buttons, and each garment comes with a personalized herbal creation. Van Noten also offers more accessible items like scarves and fragrance sachets.

For now, she’s reluctant to dive into the mainstream fashion system, though she’s working with a women-led workshop in India to make pieces that will be more widely available, in keeping with the brand’s philosophy of “green luxury.”

Though she was born into a family of garment makers and traders, Van Noten is keen to carve her own path. Dries Van Noten, who retired from his namesake label in June after almost four decades in fashion, is her father’s cousin.

“The adoration for botanics and flowers is definitely a connection that we do share together, but I prefer to do this on my own and to build this journey,” she said. “It’s very much creating an escape, a landscape where I myself also would like to be.”