Trino Verkade Showcases Her Achive of Handmade Artworks and Her Perfectionism

Like many of fashion’s greatest minds—Karl Lagerfeld, Tom Ford, and Daniel Roseberry—Trino Verkade is a Virgo, which she learned while working with Roseberry at Thom Browne. “The first day of work we went out for breakfast, and the first thing he asked me was my birth sign,” she says. “It had never come up before in my whole life.” 

The Virgo work ethic and perfectionism have shaped Verkade’s career, as the first employee for Lee Alexander McQueen and then in stints at Thom Browne and Mary Katrantzou. Her connections to the fashion industry run deep, and she has the closet to prove it. Now, she heads up the Sarabande Foundation, the nonprofit McQueen set up in 2006 to support young creatives. Since its founding, Sarabande has supported fashion designers like Craig Green and Molly Goddard, as well as artists in a host of other mediums. It’s through her work at Sarabande that Verkade has built up an archive, collecting the works of the young artists supported by the foundation through scholarships, mentorships, and subsidized studio space. Verkade’s archive includes the work of five emerging artists across a number of mediums—all pieces that fill her home in London and a house in Morocco.

There’s Darcey Fleming’s chair made from discarded twine: "The color [bright yellow] makes me smile. And there's an element of playfulness and the unexpected." Emma Witter makes "bonkers" sculptures from animal bones. George Richardson’s surreal brass custard cream was a gift Verkade bought for a friend. Then there’s Jo Grogan’s hand-carved tulip sculpture and Kasia Wozniak’s photography using a century-old camera. The throughline in their work is the surprise and delight each offers, and the way in which Verkade feels connected to the artists’ process. Each piece is made by hand, never exactly the same. "Why did I pick these artists? Because all the work's done by hand," she says, explaining that it's perfectionism in its own right. "It's not about being exact; it's about being pure."

Verkade’s hope is that her work with Sarabande continues to amplify emerging artists. Next up, Sarabande’s gallery and concept store House of Bandits has a pop-up at Selfridges in London, running through March 23. “One hundred years from now, people are going to look back on [these works] and think of them as reflective of what was happening,” she says. “If these artists don't ever make it, what's going to be the record of our time?”