With a commitment to sustainability, Renata Brenha is redefining womenswear through the art of upcycling and storytelling.
Soccer jerseys, tablecloths, and beach towels are just a few of the waste materials that Renata Brenha considers sacred. Based in London, the Brazilian womenswear designer has carved out a distinctive space in contemporary fashion by fusing craft, Latin American culture and sustainability.
Since founding her eponymous label in 2019, Brenha has set out to rewrite fashion’s rules from the inside out, which is why she has been a Sarabande Foundation artist since 2023. Sarabande is a London creative incubator founded by Alexander McQueen to support the most “creatively fearless.”
Brenha’s approach to fashion certainly reflects McQueen’s doughty spirit. Her clothes are more than garments: they are vessels of memory, cultural tension, and reclamation.
Her Latin American heritage runs deep in her choice of materials. “It starts with research,” she said. She is interested in folklore and popular culture of specific Latin American areas, as well as peoples’ personal stories. Her research typically then informs what materials she explores.
Take her use of vintage tablecloths — a nod to Candomblé, a Brazilian religion that merges African traditions with Catholicism, where women dress in ceremonial whites. Or the beach towels transformed into summer garments, referencing rituals dedicated to Yemanjá, goddess of the sea.
Upcycling is about more than cultural references for Brenha; it’s about reducing the fashion industry’s notoriously negative environmental impact. It’s about reducing waste and choosing materials with a history and a story.
She scours for discarded materials to rebirth through design: worn soccer jerseys, deadstock denim, and unwanted curtains. She’s turned men’s trousers into patchwork skirts, dyed them to mimic leather, and sprayed them to highlight the uniqueness of wear. Even her puffer jackets are stuffed with sanitized old pillows and duvets.
Brenha sees her process as animating something previously inanimate. She gives the piece a spirit and soul by placing the material in a new context.
Her studio experiments with both sustainable fibers and actual waste. In addition to reused waste fabrics, she incorporates cupro (vegan silk), eco-nylon made from recycled polyamide, regenerative wool, organic cotton, and biodegradable viscose.
At the beginning, most of the factories did not want to work with me. They said, ‘It’s a nightmare. It’s terrible. You don’t make money doing that.’”
Renata Brenha
There’s a reason most fashion brands do not prioritize sustainable production like Brenha does: working this way isn’t easy. “At the beginning, most of the factories did not want to work with me,” she admitted. “They said, ‘It’s a nightmare. It’s terrible. You don’t make money doing that.’”
The designer has had to train partners in new techniques each season, manage inconsistent supply chains, and navigate the reality that half of a batch of soccer jerseys might be unusable. Still, she pushed forward: “If I was starting something new, it had to be meaningful. I don’t think I can do it in a different way,” she said.
Brenha’s design process is tactile, collaborative, and intuitive. After researching a theme — like the 1960s Brazilian Tropicália movement — she experiments by draping on the body and working with textile experts and artisans. Her approach blends structure and softness: smocked corsets, voluminous sleeves, tailored jackets, and delicate lace. Her Autumn/Winter 2025 collection features knit rosette bonnets, pleated dresses, and bold juxtapositions of athletic and traditional forms.
She often contrasts masculine garments with hyper-feminine silhouettes. Rather than gender-neutralize the pieces, she is recontextualizing them. Her pleated soccer jersey gowns are a perfect example — industrial polyester reworked by hand into something graceful.
Brenha emphasized her adoration for collaboration. She recently completed her third collaboration with Australian brand Lee Mathews. At Sarabande, collaboration is second nature. She’s worked with sculptors and jewelry designers and shares her studio with like-minded creatives.
“Being surrounded by all the other artists, it’s just amazing. Your practice evolves much faster,” she said. “It’s always a really big dialogue, and I feel like the ideas are much bigger than you being on your own.”
“Being surrounded by all the other artists, it’s just amazing. Your practice evolves much faster.”
Brenha will present her next collection in September rather than her usual June presentation. This calendar switch will align more directly with womenswear shows, allowing more time to explore techniques in depth.
Her clothes attempt to capture the essence of the communities she explores. In a world drowning in fast fashion and ever-changing trends, Brenha offers an act of care and cultural preservation.
As she expressed in her conversation with Mathews, “Materiality is fundamental to my design process: I rely on the tactile aspect to convey a narrative.” Where others see scraps, Renata Brenha sees stories.
All images courtesy of Renata Brenha. Spring Summer Renata Brenha collection.
