“My culture is a big part of my identity and strongly influences my designs. I’ve taken traditional imagery and detailing, and blended them into modern shapes, garments and silhouettes, which really come to life on the runway,” says the designer. While still holding true to the professional and chic aesthetic, the bold take on the designer’s heritage makes for an original statement piece.
Amor Carandang and Chris Provins – partners in both life and design – leapt onto the Edmonton fashion design scene in 2014 with Hunt Amor, now considered one of Alberta’s most recognized custom jewellery brands. Where Hunt Amor once boasted a large collection of delicate body chains, rings, necklaces, earrings and hand-cut brass V-earrings, the label has since expanded to include its Kindred line – high-end jewellery crafted in elegant gold.
“We’re super excited to be designing with people who we get to connect with and mix our skills through materials, processes and technology – that really excites us,” says Carandang of the new line, featured above. “The pieces represent the work we’re creating with the people we’re proud to know.”
Since she won the Mercedes-Benz StartUp competition at World Mastercard Fashion week, Malorie Urbanovitch has been the one to watch in Edmonton’s growing pool of fashion designers. Working as a full-time designer for the last three years, Urbanovitch has created apparel that has circulated in Edmonton through a tight network of artisan craft fairs and retailers such as Habitat Etc., but her crowning achievement to date was the introduction of her line to the Simons location in West Edmonton Mall.
There, the elevated simplicity, whimsy and quirkiness of her designs are made available in forms like the black linen coat and scribble earrings (pictured above) from her 2016 spring collection. Given the popularity of her work, it’s no surprise that Urbanovitch’s fall 2016-2017 line will be spreading to Simons locations in Toronto as well.
Alisha Schick, the creative force behind Suka Clothing, first began drawing and designing her collections in high school, but it was with the launch of Suka Clothing in 2011 that she found her voice in Edmonton’s fashion world.
While Schick’s previous collections provide many Edmontonians with a much-needed edge to their wardrobe choices, her new spring/summer surf-punk-inspired collection – featuring items such as the shark attack T-shirt and moto leather skirt featured above – is bringing the fashion rebellion to Calgarians as well. Her line recently expanded from Edmonton’s Bamboo Ballroom to the retailer’s new location in Calgary, where she hopes this season’s line will find a new audience.
“This season, we took the effortless lifestyle of the California coast and mixed it with subcultural influences that included the moto jacket detailing signature of punk-rock bands and DIY punk detailing and deconstruction in California cotton-inspired tees,” says Schick. “We love the casual details and silhouette. It makes the biggest statement about this season’s theme.
