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Fashion | Brand Focus: Valour House

We catch up with premium streetwear brand Valour House, the female-fronted company kitting out the likes of Bryson Tiller and The Martinez Brothers

VALOUR HOUSE is a family aff air. Founder Faye Christou, who launched V House in 2017, spent her formative years inspired by an older relative, her “cool older cousin Dre”. “He was ahead of the style game for as long as I can remember,” she tells DJ Mag. “I was inspired to start the brand for a long time before I did, I wasn’t sure what to call it or where to start.”
When Faye’s grandfather fell ill, the word ‘Valour' was something the family kept in mind — “great courage in the face of danger, especially in battle”. “Once I had the name, it was then having the dream and running with it,” she says. Teaching herself the foundations of setting up a brand, Faye moved with the flow, learning about the industry as she developed the brand, and eventually V House was born.

Since the launch of V House, Faye has worked consistently and relentlessly to develop it into a premium line of products. “I’ve always been creative, and studied art and design, but even that has got better and better as I’ve understood my vision further and the pieces have started to connect,” she explains.

She notes one of V House’s biggest achievements as the fact that the garments are favoured by stylists, and it’s something that pushes her to up the ante each time, while looking at ways to develop sustainability. “When I get shown love by the stylists, that gives me fire in the belly. They have high expectations with clothing, and it means I’m doing something right.” In terms of V House’s designs, the garments feature bold logos embroidered and printed on a variety of products — hats, tees and tracksuits — and in an array of colours, from pastel pinks and blues to muted neutrals, beiges and blacks.

Photos by Jade Laurynn Gregory

One of the essential parts of Faye’s design process is music. The brother of Cuttin’ Headz affiliate AJ Christou, Faye is immersed in the electronic underground, but takes in a plethora of sounds to inspire the output of V House. “It’s crazy because I have a very wide range of music tastes, but when I’m designing, I must open my mind and get really deep and inspired,” she says. “I listen to a lot of scores and movie soundtracks. I love Hans Zimmer; he opens my mind, for sure.”

An expert in stepping outside of her own comfort zone to find new frames of reference, the designs and products always connect back to V House’s inception. “My favourite piece to date is a t-shirt which said ‘The comfort zone is where dreams die’. It pushes those positive vibes, and goes back to courage,” Faye explains. “I feel like I’ve always tried to merge my motivation and inspirations into fashion. I’m a deep person, so this makes sense in my head, and it connects with people because they feel it too.”

Those deep, strong messages and designs have resonated further than Faye and brother AJ, who she says “literally lives in my brand”, and is affirmation for Faye that V House is on the right path. Artists like Loco Dice and The Martinez Brothers have frequently been spotted repping V House, and the likes of Bryson Tiller and Stefflon Don have also donned garments from the brand. “I have a forever love for music," Faye says, "so connection with artists that I love and seeing them in my brand will always be a ‘wow’ moment for me."

Amy Fielding is DJ Mag's digital staff writer and fashion editor. Follow her on Twitter @amybfielding

Want more? Check out our recent Brand Focus with Sarangua Embroidery, the London-based creative company providing affordable access to custom, luxury and flexible services