about us
commerce can be as enjoyable and healthy an experience as one intends it to be. the problem being that most commerce nowadays is big commerce, and it seems that as things get big ethics become a very small concern.
we are small, however; just a few people working to contribute to a more interesting vision of the world, where design can be beautiful while at the same time conscious of the environment it is embedded in, and the people depended upon to do business.
the environment has always played an extremely important role in our lives. most of us here have degrees in the environmental and conservation sciences, and we continue to spend most of our free time doing nerdy nature activities that if discussed in too much detail might lower our cool factor in the eyes of some hardened city folk! because of this passion, and our belief that living sustainably is smart on so many fronts (see our eco-city rant), we try our damnedest to live and do business in a sustainable manner. this means we work to minimize our negative impacts on the environment (by using organic fabrics such as cotton and wool, or other materials such as bamboo and lyocell that can be grown without soaking the landscape in chemical residues), and when possible we try to contribute to enhancing biodiversity and ecosystem health however we can (read Cultures of Habitat by Gary Paul Nabhan for a crash course on how people can actually increase the biodiversity of their "place").
but people fascinate us just as much as nature, since the two are one and same, really, and so the history of worker exploitation in the fashion industry - including the inconceivable use of children as workers - not only saddens but angers us. in every part of our manufacturing process we work to ensure that workers are treated fairly and well. we make all of our clothes in montréal, which is one way to ensure this (since workers here have recourse to canada's labour laws). also, we live close to where our clothes are being cut and sewn, and so we are able to interact with our workers regularly, allowing us to confidently assure our customers that our garments are sweatshop-free. in fact, one of our joys of being in this business is the interaction we have with our pattern-maker (Maryse), our cutters (Angelo, Leo and Tony), and our sewers (Mrs.Anna, and Cheng), all of whom are genuine characters - in the best sense of that word!
and then there is the design: it is lovely, elegant and sexy, because we enjoy feeling beautiful and see no reason why being ethical need get in the way of that. on the contrary, we find that clothes made in unethical and unthinking ways is the ugly fashion.
the world we envision is attainable, and that's why we work late nights, stress over missing buttons and even endure the occasional heart attack or two when something that never could have gone wrong just did! the world we envision is full of beauty, diversity and good will. what about you?
tell us what you envision, and how you think we can get there.
keep in touch!
grace & cello
