Tintoreria

Aug 31, 2018

After launching her namesake studio and her own line of textiles produced in Oaxaca, Mexico, Maria Romero was eager to build a mission around her wares. 

“I realized for me it was important to bring people into my world and the world of the people I work with,” she explained. “Understand how do they do it, why our textiles are meaningful and ready to last a lifetime.”

A visit to the Pompeii ruins also ignited Romero’s interest in the “fullonicas” where wool was processed, spun and dyed in the region. Her travels commingled with her fervor for reviving traditional textile practices and she decided to start her own Tintoreria (which means dye house in Spanish).

Since then, she has been helping give clothes a new life via doses of natural dyes. Customers can visit her Bushwick studio with their old garments and get them dyed a vibrant new hue — extending their use and preventing the cherished closet staples from being thrown out.

The dyes were developed in her kitchen. Emulating the artisans from her travels, she experimented with different natural ingredients to understand the colors they produce.

“I got hooked, from living in NY and owning a closet that is 50% black and 50% white suddenly color arrived to my life,” she explained “I found a way to rescue all those white garments that were not white anymore and I became obsessed with color studies even more." 

Tintoreria will soon be celebrating its first year and has garnered plenty of or press/praise. To celebrate the milestone, Romero will be releasing a new celebratory shade. 

More info about the dyes and products can be found here. 

© 2018