ELORA – Nestled into Elora’s downtown strip Studio Kampina Vintage has been serving the community for nearly five years. What began as racks of scattered clothing tucked into owner Jacquelyn Van Kampen’s living room, has transformed into an established vintage storefront.
Van Kampen grew up in the Conestogo area and after high school, received her bachelor’s degree in industrial design from Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands and her diploma in pattern development and garment construction for fashion design from LaSalle College in Toronto.
In 2016, Van Kampen traveled north to do a textile artists residency in the Yukon, where her passion for upcycling clothing began. During her time in the Yukon, she developed a collection where each piece was made from found, foraged and gifted textiles.
Van Kampen says she has always had a thing for collecting vintage pieces, but it was in the Yukon that she really developed her passion for turning old and discarded fabrics and clothing into new pieces.
“There was like one fabric store in the main town, and I was in a very small town like a two-hour drive from there so finding fabrics was more of a challenge,” said Van Kampen. “But people would donate things to me so I could work on them, and the dump had a free room so I would dig in there for fabrics, and I guess that’s where I really got into the second-hand world.”
When she returned to Ontario the young designer says she was more serious about thrifting and upcycling clothes and began collecting and storing pieces in her home.
“It kind of started in my living room and then suddenly there were racks and racks all around,” she told the Advertiser, “Then this spot came available, and it was just the perfect timing, I was ready to open a shop.”
Studio Kampina in Elora features vintage pieces with some originating from as far back as the 1920’s and older. Photo by Ellouise Thompson
Van Kampen says her special interest in vintage and vintage looking clothing all comes down to her love of fabrics, “I love fabric, like I love prints and colours from the past and the quality of the fabric that you could get back then.”
While the shop is primarily outsourced vintage pieces, Van Kampen says she does a lot of creating as well. The designer says she enjoys taking vintage pieces apart and making them into something new but is very strict on using as much if not all of the garments she takes apart.
“I do use up as much of the fabric as I can so the waste that I have at the end of the day is minimal,” said Van Kampen. “If I do decide to cut something up it’s with a lot of intention and I’m going to use everything I can.”
She also makes a point to donate anything she can’t use or that isn’t selling.
“I don’t throw anything away; I would rather see it used in some way.”
Despite being open for nearly five years, Van Kampen says she still has big plans for the future of her business that will hopefully take hold this winter.
“A big goal that I have been telling people and talking about for years now, is that I am planning to teach sewing in this space …. It’s going to be very small classes, maybe two or three people and teach either upcycling, basic sewing, or making patterns.”
Studio Kampina Vintage is located at 140 Metcalfe Street, Elora and is open Monday to Saturday 11am to 5pm and Sunday 12am to 4pm. To stay up to date with future sewing classes visit studiokampina.com.
