He contributes to downtown’s prosperity
Age: 37
Job Title: Founder and President, The Helm Clothing
You know you’re in a high-end shop when a couple of rolling clothing racks prompt an apology from the owner. They stick out to Chad Helm, 37, as he surveys the curated displays of The Helm menswear store downtown.
Helm grew up on a farm with his grandparents and single mother south of Edmonton. He was working as a third-year pipefitter when an opportunity came up to model in Europe. He’d always been interested in fashion, and recalls browsing Calvin Klein at The Bay as a teen.
“It doesn’t take a lot of 6 a.m. January mornings working outside to convince you to hop on a plane and give something like that a shot,” he says.
After three years modelling for designers like Armani and Bottega Veneta, he returned home and opened The Helm in 2012, offering the fresh and youthful aesthetic Edmonton’s men’s fashion scene lacked. In July 2022, it moved to 103rd Street and expanded to 8,300 square feet over three floors.
Helm is committed to helping make downtown Edmonton better and safer, joining the Downtown Recovery Coalition and REACH’s 24/7 Crisis Diversion committee.
“The motivation to keep the store downtown is driven by the desire to see our city prosper,” he says. “Edmonton has a lot of positive days ahead and I’m looking forward to being part of them.”
This article appears in the Nov/Dec 2023 issue of Edify
