May 6, 2025
Rentrayage Transforms Fashion’s Footprint
‘Lifestyle’ Store in Kent Emphasizes Sustainability
By Andrea Valluzzo
Photographs by Cedric Gairard
Longtime fashion designer Erin Beatty found inspiration across the globe, from the bold prints of African textiles to the flowers of India used to create whimsical effects on fabric. It was not until she left the fashion hub of New York City to settle in Bantam with her family, however, that she fully embraced a new way to create fashion.
Troubled by the carbon footprint and waste generated by the fashion industry, Beatty was determined to create something new and sustainable. After years of working for brands like the Gap and Tory Burch, and developing brands like the award-winning Suno in 2008, she’s found inspiration in the Northwest Hills and the sense of community she’s found here. After several years of running short-term fashion pop-ups for her brand Rentrayage (which she launched in 2019), she gave it a permanent space in October, in Kent Barns at 12 Old Barn Road.
“I was getting tired of luxury, and I hated fast fashion. I felt like there was a space and opportunity for something you can buy without feeling guilty in fashion that is sustainably made,” she says. “I had decided to do a pop-up through Christmas and by the end of November, I knew I wanted to keep this going. You can come in to buy fashion and home, and it all speaks to one another. It’s all made sustainably, by artisans, and locally, and when you put it all together, it really starts to make sense.”
Beatty’s clothing designs occupy one wall in this artfully curated space while textiles, candles, handmade glassware, and decorative pieces are displayed on tables. Soft-as-butter colorful blankets from Spain hang in one corner near glasses made in small batches from recycled glass in Portugal that echo the blankets’ hues. Embroidered pure linen Indian napkins are dyed with flowers recovered from the floors of Mumbai temples.
Working with artisans and small businesses, Beatty notes one of her most popular items, women’s jeans, are created sustainably in Los Angeles using ozone wash to reduce the amount of water typically needed.
Her website remains robust but the storefront is the centerpiece. “To me having a space that is so experiential when everything feels so disgustingly digital is actually exactly what we need. And the other thing is a sense of community,” she says. “That’s what I think so many of us who have moved up here have found. It’s what I’m so grateful to this area for—this beautiful community for my children and family, where we are surrounded by nature. Any way we can find to enhance and expand that, it just feels like what the world needs.”
Named for the French word meaning “to mend and make whole again,” Rentrayage mixes vintage clothes with new pieces to create one-of-a-kind items. Spotted recently wearing a vintage sweatshirt with sleeves taken from a military jacket and paired with her “insanely comfortable” Silverlake jeans, Beatty doesn’t just manage her brand. She lives it.—rentrayage.com
