What is your creative process?
Stephanie: My inspiration is rooted in architecture, design, and the iconic greats from the past. The journey of life we are on—the travels, the spaces, places, faces, sounds and colors we ingest along the way—mold our collections and our brand, creating our own unique and ever-evolving heartbeat.
Our new collection started to take shape on a trip to Japan, a country filled with respect, fresh air, clean streets, effortless order, and endless thank-yous. Traveling by train, the blurred images and muted colours of tiled buildings were imprinted in my mind. Hypnotic squares and tiles of subtle colour combinations became art, creating an instant colour palette and inspiration for new shapes and designs. Migrating from the busy city streets to the mountains of fresh air, the noise slowed and the ideas became quieter.
Kyle: From there the work becomes a process of stripping away noise. We try to remove trend wherever possible and whenever we can, we work with zero-dye yarns (100% undyed fibres) to ensure timeless, eco-luxury design. A 100% natural fibre product, that is 100% undyed is by far one of the most eco-friendly product on the planet. Our goal has never been seasonal product, but meaningful possessions worthy of taking up space in your life. We believe in fewer, better things. Longevity is our definition of luxury.
How does your lifestyle influence your creativity?
Kyle: Our lifestyle isn’t separate from our creativity, it is the source of it. We live between places. Canada anchors us, but we spend large parts of the year in Japan and Indonesia. Moving constantly between cultures, climates, and landscapes keeps us inspired. It sharpens the eye. It resets the palette. It forces us to notice details we might otherwise overlook.
We are also surfers and snowboarders who use our planet as our playground and therefore it is extremely important for us to make sure that everything we are doing has the planet in mind first. We don't want to design anything that will end up in a landfill. Spending so much time outdoors changes the way you see materials. You become more aware of origin, impact, and excess. You start to understand that the mountain, the sea, the blanket, it’s all connected.
What are you most passionate about?
Kyle: Thats a tough question as I feel we are insanely passionate about a lot of things. Travel, meeting people, good coffee, glassy morning surfs, blue bird powder days, sustainable materials, great design. The list goes on and is ever changing.
How do you know when a design is finished?
Kyle: Thats a hard one. We sit with designs for quite a long time, sometimes too long ha! If there’s anything that starts to feel “off" even something small that starts to stand out, we change it or remove it. If we can look at a product and honestly feel like it will still be relevant in twenty years, then we know we’ve done our job.
What is on your radar right now (books, music, travel)?
Travel: Japan has stolen our hearts recently.
Music: The current Australian music scene is very cool. I would describe it as a mix of garage, surf rock indy with an undertone of 90’s slacker influence.
Book: Yvon Chouinard “Let My People Go Surfing,”—It's a book about building the brand Patagonia while trying to prove a business can exist without losing its values. It’s less a memoir and more a philosophy, using business as a tool to protect the environment, care for people, and prioritize purpose over profit.
