About
Learn about the studio, the garden, and the humans behind Tinctorium.
Founded is 2020, Tinctorium Studio sits at the intersection of slow craft, sustainable fashion, textile art and environmental education. We dye consciously sourced fabrics with local plants for a simple goal: to make beautiful pieces that spark curiosity about the plants around us and the role they play in the ecosystem. A window into interacting with the plants we pass by every day.
Plants and people are not separate categories; our past and future are bound together in coevolution. Only by re-establishing this interaction with the land, we can learn to become true stewards of the ecosystems that sustain us.
As the great Robin Wall-Kimmerer (author, Braiding Sweetgrass) says, "How can you love the earth if you don't pick berries".
In the same way, natural dyeing is more than colour for us. It’s a practice that changes how we see the world by slowing us down, connecting us to our surroundings, and showing us the abundance this magical planet provides when we work responsibly with her.
Through our in-house brand Wear Tinctorium, as well as workshops and collaborations, we share this vision with the world. Welcome to Tinctorium Studio - where each piece carries the colours of the ecosystem, and a reminder of how we are simply an extension of the land. Just carbon and sunshine.
Learn how our guiding principles influence the studio's work:
1. Natural Doesn't Mean Sustainable
Natural dyeing in Europe has a long history of extractive and harmful practices. Today, it’s often used as a Greenwashing tool for large-scale production with little real care for the environment. At Tinctorium Studio, sustainability isn’t assumed. It’s earned through a process-based, place-responsive approach.
About Annette
Natural Dyer, Gardener, Human, and Founder of Tinctorium Studio
Born and raised between Costa Rica, Portugal, and New England, Annette grew up surrounded by plants and nature. Graduating with a degree in International Relations, it took less than a year of working in Washington D.C. to realize this was not the path she wanted, and she began studying Permaculture. Her obsession with plants and an unexpected introduction to natural dyeing in Thailand, while completing the Permaculture Design Certificate in 2018, was the beginning of Annette's journey into the world of natural dyeing.
In 2019, she moved back to Portugal, taking advantage of her free time to forage for dyeing material in the parks, abandoned lots, and forests of the area. After a worldwide pandemic forced her to find a sense of belonging in local plants, she founded Tinctorium Studio in 2020. Instead of yelling into the void about living in more earth-conscious ways, she is now living them and sharing the example.
It Takes a Village
Although it is just Annette in the studio, no one does anything truly on their own. It's taken a village to make Tinctorium Studio a reality.
Originally from Lyon, France, Mathieu (Annette's partner) moved to Portugal in 2020 to surf and stayed for love. He has been there since the beginning of Tinctorium Studio cheering and supporting.
Since 2025 Mathieu has taken an active role in the business development so that Tinctorium Studio is not only socially and environmentally sustainable, but also financially. He maintains the webshop and website, tracks sales and expenses, head of building things and loading up the car for events, is the first point of contact for inquiries, leads the Blanks & Materials initiative, and is always an extra set of hands in the studio and garden.
He is the backbone of everything that happens at Tinctorium.
Other notable mentions
- Katrina Brinckerhoff & Patrick Hallen : Sister and brother-in-law to Annette whose apartment she lived through the COVID confinement and from whose kitchen Tinctorium Studio was founded. THey were the first people to believe in the potential of Tinctorium and without their support, none of this would exist.
- Ilda Sabido: Grandmother to Annette who taught her to knit and use a sewing machine. She has spent countless hours fixing tiny defects and ironing Wear Tinctorium pieces.
- José Luis Sabido: Painter, sculptor, stone worker, and grandfather in Annette who ceded family land to what is now the Ticntorium Studio space.
- Joris Brinckerhoff & Maria Sabido: Butterfly farmers and parents to Annette, they showed her the impact that entrepreneurship can have on the world and set the example for living an untraditional life.
- Friends: All the friends who have volunteered to be models, shown up at different events, purchased pieces, given feedback and spread their enthusiasm about natural colors.
- Customers and students who have made it possible to make this my work. What Tinctorium Studio is today is only possible because I can live from it. Thank you for your trust in botanical colors and believing in this mission.
- Frodo: Beloved studio dog and primary doorbell. He greets guests with a sniff test at the gate and then goes off to hunt lizards in the garden.
