About Us

Ascensio began as an overflowing closet, a shopping habit and a young girls dream.

 For as long as I can remember, I had been obsessed with anything vintage - clothes, bags, furniture, cars, you name it. If it came with a questionably musky smell and a story, I wanted it. I was lucky to have been surrounded by beautiful antiques at my grandparents home, who spent many hours telling me the stories behind each item. As a teen, I had a wonderful textiles teacher who really helped me develop a great love for fashion and fashion designers (we spent plenty of time watching 1990s runway shows in class), to the point where I began wanting to pursue it as a career. As we know, Life gets in the way and things quickly changed very significantly for me, and so the idea was shelved and treated as a silly dream I once had. 
It wasn’t until an impromptu trip in 2022 to London and a visit to one of my favourite vintage stores that I realised that this is really what I wanted to do. I had spent so much time pushing the pen around, knowing that no job I worked really tapped into my passions, whilst being surrounded by cheaply made, plastic fast fashion (that I unfortunately participated in the purchasing of) and I decided that it was time to take the plunge.  Sure, I couldn’t move to London, but I decided I would set up an online store and really get involved in the pre-loved market. Thus, Ascensio was born. 
Finding pre-loved treasures a new home, whilst spreading my love for design and this sustainable shopping option really speaks to my soul. In a world of SHEIN and Oh Polly, I wanted to create a curated space of slow fashion in which you could peek into all the different decades gone by. Each piece is selected by me because it caught my eye with its unique details or with its design history.
My favourite thing in the world is talking to customers or other vintage sellers about our mutual love for fashion, design and all things vintage. There’s something so special about owning a piece that has already lived a life that you will probably never know about. Where has it been? Who has it seen? Was it cried in? Laughed in? First-kissed in? That’s the element you cannot buy on the high street. Each garment has a story; one that you could daydream up and one that existed in reality, inevitably with many cross overs. 
This shop is a real passion project. It’s about the love of craftsmanship and attaching ourselves to times gone by that we can never get back. When you wear a vintage piece, you don’t just feel the nostalgia - you live in it. Beautifully. 

Reader - I hope you find something you love in this store, today or another day. I hope you love it so much that you keep wearing it forever, keep safe for your children or to gift it to someone who will do the same. You’ll notice with vintage pieces, there are always imprinted shapes, folds or creases of love from it taking the shape of its previous owner. Each time an item has been loved by you, you imprint some of yourself into it like a memory. This is the beauty of vintage design. 

lots of love 

Siân 

Founder of Ascensio Vintage