NOT A BRAND — A PORTAL
The Atelier
Founded to create wearable relics that feel both otherworldly and deeply lived in.
Each piece begins with a textile that has already lived a life. I work primarily with antique and reclaimed fabrics—most often silk from vintage kimono and cheongsam garments—chosen for the character they have gained through time.
Rather than hiding the marks of age, I design with them. Fading dyes, softened threads, and small irregularities in the weave become part of the final piece. They are traces of the fabric’s past, carried forward into something new.
Every corset is built using a combination of traditional corsetry techniques, modern construction methods, and approaches I have developed through my own practice. Steel and synthetic whalbone, layered structures, and careful tension throughout the garment create pieces that feel both structured and natural to wear.
Running quietly through the work is a place I call the Crooked City. It is not a literal setting, but a way of seeing beauty in things that have endured—weathered surfaces, repaired edges, materials that carry memory. Fae Skin pieces belong to that world. And now, perhaps, to yours.
Continue reading for my story.
My name is Evelien, or Evie for short, and I am the hands behind Fae Skin.
Once upon a time, I was on a very different path, studying game art at the University of the Arts Utrecht. I thought I’d become a game artist, weaving worlds through pixels and polygons. I got my degree... and with it, the quiet realization that this dream didn’t quite fit.
Then the world went quiet too. The pandemic swept across everything, and like many of us, I found myself lost in the hush. I picked up a needle and sewed to pass the time.
I began to create not just garments, but relics of emotion, identity, and imagination. Corsets bloomed like wildflowers, too many for my wardrobe to contain. So I started to sell them. And to my surprise, people wanted them.
That’s how Feeënstof was born: a small spell cast into the world, equal parts fabric and faith. But the truth? Running a creative business alone — in a world that demands endless output, constant content, and algorithmic obedience — nearly unraveled me. I paused Feeënstof. I thought I might be done. But art has a way of calling us home.
At the start of 2025, I began an internship at the couture house of Iris van Herpen. There, immersed in craftsmanship and wonder, I remembered why I started. I didn’t want a career. I wanted a life. One where I could build beauty with my hands. And so, Feeënstof shed her skin, and Fae Skin emerged.
Today, Fae Skin is my heartwork. Each piece is unique and has her own story. I use reclaimed silks, forgotten fabrics, and the kinds of materials that seem to carry a soul. I believe in garments that remember, that comfort, that transform. I believe in turning worn things into sacred things.
If you’ve made it this far: thank you. Truly. This little atelier exists because you believe in a different kind of beauty, and because you allow space for softness, even when the world forgets how.
With love,
Evie