Voting with Your Dollars: Les Sublimes and my Black Shirt Dilemma

June 21, 2016July 4, 20162 Comments

Most of my readers are fortunate to have the right to vote. We cast our votes for local and national politicians every few years to participate in democracy in a direct and sanctioned way, but also to suggest which values we’d like to see reflected in society. Voting in political processes is very important, but I also firmly believe that we vote every day, with our purchases, that is, with our dollars. What better reflection of what we value than how we spend our hard-earned money?

So, enter my black shirt dilemma. Do I buy a shirt now that I can afford or wait until I save the money to buy a shirt that aligns with my values?

It’s been about 6 months now that I have no shirts, no blouses, no tops left in my closet. Everything had been worn through and was beyond repair. I’ve been getting by wearing dresses and knit sweaters during this time. Many times I’ve wanted to buy myself a replacement white or black tee, but didn’t have a good source or the money to buy an ethically made shirt. So, rather than buy a conventional shirt at a big box store I just waited until the time was right. Many people, myself included, would say that a basic tee is essential, like underwear, in your wardrobe. Well, essential is stretching it, since I’ve clearly proved this point wrong. Nevertheless, I do think basics are a good investment and owning a few (let’s say two) basic tees would allow me to wear more of my current wardrobe (…having no tops, I can’t wear my one pair of pants or skirt).

About a month ago I got an email from a small company out of Paris called Les Sublimes. Alexis and Kachen wrote to me about their dreams of launching an environmentally-friendly and ethically made line of basics for women. The clothing would be wardrobe essentials that don’t compromise on our values. Sadly, I have noticed many times that wardrobe basics are the clothing most of us cut corners with in our budgets. Oftentimes we are willing to spend more on statement pieces or items when the brand will be obvious. In contrast, generic pieces and basics are often where I see people buying from fast fashion brands, where the quality is poor, the production is not fair, but the price is right. Except that in reality, we know the price is wrong.

As I learned from Alexis, Les Sublimes will produce their line of basics (tops and dresses) in France, in an environmentally-friendly way, that reduces water use, and is made from organic and sustainably harvested natural resources. The garments will be produced with the intention of improving the lives of every person along its chain of production, from the farmers to the artisans to the garment workers. In addition, Les Sublimes will be giving back by supporting education for girls living in poverty. Every single piece of clothing sold will translate into one month of education for a girl. You can read more about their giving here.

Pre-sale to fund Les Sublimes first production

So, if you are looking to stock some ethically made basics, look no further than Les Sublimes, you can purchase from their pre-sale which they are running through Indiegogo.

Les Sublimes launched an Indiegogo campaign earlier today to help them produce their first collection. Indiegogo is essentially a platform for Les Sublimes to organize a pre-sale, so they have the funds to produce their line. This means that everyone who funds Les Sublimes through their month-long campaign will receive a piece from their line if they donate over 9 Euros ($10 USD/ $13 CAD). You can see all the details of the rewards on the campaign page.

When you purchase from Les Sublimes and other ethical companies, you are putting your money where your mouth is, you are voting for:

Sustainable agriculture
Responsible harvesting
Low impact, environmentally-friendly production
Use of organic and biodegradable fabrics
Fair and living wages
Small scale, local production
Social responsibility
Quality over quantity
Durability over disposability

So, it turns out that come August I will once again have a shirt in my closet! Woohoo.

You can find Les Sublimes online here, follow them on Instagram here and on Facebook here. And don’t forget to visit their Indiegogo page to read more about their story and production ethics.

You might also like my post:

Slow Fashion: Four’emKi for women and children

Social Responsibility: WOOLN Knits

Ethical Wool: Love Your Mother in Luv Mother

Slow Fashion: Dreaming with Little Creative Factory

Fashion for Good: Punjammies Made From Hope

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13 Ways to Simplify Your Wardrobe

January 24, 2016November 6, 201819 Comments

One of the easiest places to start downsizing your stuff is with non-sentimental, everyday items like clothing. We are usually quite familiar with our favourite items and know which ones we haven’t worn in ages. Having less clothing has so many advantages, such as simplifying decisions when getting dressed, cutting down on laundry and saving money. But how do you choose what to keep?

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If you’re familiar with the KonMari method, Marie Kondo suggests you keep only the things that “spark joy.” While I think this is a useful lens through which to edit your home, it really doesn’t work well for me as the only lens for making decisions. If I used this method to decide what clothing to keep I’d be left with 5 items: 2 dresses from Ace & Jig, a dress from Nico Nico, and a skirt and dress from Thief & Bandit (these are organic, small scale, north american made clothing lines). I don’t really like anything else that I own, in fact I feel guilt since the rest of it comes from big box stores, because that’s where I can afford to shop. I haven’t bothered counting the number of items in my wardrobe, there aren’t many. I know that I have one pair of jeans and one pair of shoes for each season. The rest isn’t much, but it’s definitely enough.

Putting the “sparks joy” method aside I have a few other techniques that can help you minimize your wardrobe and keep it that way:

1) Empty your closet and dresser completely: When you do this you will likely be overwhelmed by the volume and will be highly motivated to reduce your stock of clothing. This is a good technique if you have a lot of clothing, making a big mess of it you’ll surely want to part with a lot of it when you see the massive pile.

2) Follow the “plus 1” rule: You only need enough of a daily item, like socks, to go one week plus an extra day. Otherwise you will keep going through your 42 pairs of underwear and 37 pairs of socks until there are none left and then do the laundry (and spend way too much time trying to match up pairs of socks). You need 8 pairs at most. Sure, you might have special underwear and seasonal socks, but for those that are for daily use, limit yourself to 8.

3) Hang as much of your clothing as possible: Having clothes stare you in the face is a good way to remember what you have, and realize what you don’t wear, because it isn’t at the bottom of a pile feeling under appreciated. I don’t own a dresser or clothing rack. All my clothing is hung in my single closet, my socks and underwear hang from a basket in the closet too. Limiting yourself to just closet space forces you to minimize your clothing and frees up floor space in your room (bonus!). I have done the same with the children’s clothing, no dressers, just closets.

4) At the start of each season reverse your hangers: (Reverse: meaning to hang the hanger with the opening of the hook facing out of the closet, as opposed to the conventional manner of hanging of the hook opening toward the back of the closet). At the end of the season all the hangers that are still hanging backwards have items on them that you do not need. If it can be worn in the current season and you didn’t wear it, then donate it to someone who will.

5) Eliminate back-ups: Just because you have 6 white t-shirts and 8 blacks ones doesn’t mean you should. ‘Basic’ is not a blanket exception for keeping a stash of clothing. Unless a t-shirt and jeans is your daily uniform, get rid of those extra shirts. At most you need two of each. Adopt a similar approach for other notorious back up items in your wardrobe, like extra cardigans and jeans. By the time you NEED to wear them, you will have a new back up. Get rid of them now! (But don’t throw them in the garbage, donate them, someone out there does need them.)

6) Keep only items that you love to wear or wear every week: You don’t need occasional items, they are just making it easier for moths to move into your cozy over-stuffed closet. You might not love all your clothing, like office wear, but if it’s in regular rotation and making it into the laundry most weeks then you should keep it. If not, donate it!

7) Keep things that suit your lifestyle: If you don’t wear a suit to work, you probably don’t need it. Think about how much time you spend doing things and what clothing you need. Do you need 12 pairs of yoga pants, when the last time you went to yoga was 3 months ago? Even if it was last week, you probably need 2 or 3 pairs. The more pairs you have the bigger your pile of laundry gets…

8) Keep clothing that is versatile: The more places you can wear something, the smaller your wardrobe can be. That means less time picking your outfit, cleaning, folding, ironing, and hanging clothing. More time to enjoy life!

9) Don’t focus on how much something cost: If you aren’t wearing it, it’s not adding any value to your life. Let someone else enjoy it. Donate it or find a consignment shop to sell it through.

10) Keep things that fit: Don’t save something because it will fit you when you lose or gain weight. When you reach your goal weight you will probably be excited and buy yourself something new.

11) Keep things that are your current style: We all have things in our closets that are cool, stylish, or insert another adjective: trendy, artsy, dressy, but that aren’t really our own personal style, they may be an aspirational style, but they aren’t our style. Admit to this, and then donate those items.

12) Let go of nostalgia: Take a photo of items you are saving for memory’s sake, you don’t need the actual item to re-live the memory. (Think high school sports jerseys, bridesmaid dresses, etc).

13) One in, one out: When you get something new, get rid of something old. This will keep things in check, and will make you hesitate with spontaneous purchases, because you know you will have to give something up when you get home.

There are many easy ways to get rid of your unwanted clothing without the need to put it in the garbage. I find the easiest way is posting to Kijiji, a free online classifieds service. I post ads offering “free bag of women’s size small clothing” “free bag of infant linens” “free miscellaneous kitchen items”. You can also drop bags off at local charity bins, shelters, churches and municipal offices (usually). If your clothing is still in good shape and you’d like to earn some money you can search online for local consignment shops.

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Interview with a Minimalist: Amanda

October 8, 2015October 7, 201610 Comments

When a baby is on the way, there’s often an intense need to nest and prepare for their arrival. Cleaning, arranging, and accumulating. Making sure the stuff baby needs to survive and thrive are at the ready. When I learned that my friend, Amanda, was expecting her third, I was curious to know how she was approaching nesting this time around, after all nesting is most often an instinct and not an intellectual decision. Other people I know have no less prepared and accumulated stuff for their third than for their first. But, Amanda is a minimalist. I wondered curiously whether her minimalism was affecting how she felt about preparing for baby this time around. We chatted, and I learned a lot more than just about her baby prep, I learned that Amanda’s story of coming to minimalism was a lot like my own. For me, there is no lofty intellectual or artistic story to tell. I didn’t aspire to a particular home decor aesthetic. It was a completely practical decision. Faced with never ending tidying, exhaustion from work and mothering, I made the decision that our home needed to have way, way less stuff if I was going to save my sanity. Some people are comfortable in clutter and disarray, I’m not one of them.

Amanda is a stay-at-home mother and a photographer. I asked her to share her story of finding minimalism and how it is now part of her everyday life. I think you will find her answers refreshing and engaging. She speaks in a very honest and practical way, with beautiful snippets of revelation here and there. I absolutely love how Amanda so clearly sees that minimalism doesn’t stop with your living space, it permeates how you live and how you make decisions. Minimalism changes how you think about your schedule, your grocery shopping, your texting, everything.

I hope you are inspired by Amanda’s story.

Let’s start with a little bit about you. Who are you? What’s your background?

I’m 28 years old. I’m the oldest of four preacher’s kids. Born, bred and breeding in the desert of Southern California. I was 20 when I married my best friend, who turned me from a preacher’s kid to a preacher’s wife. Together we have two daughters and one on the way!

What are you passionate about? How do you like to spend your time?

Although I would not describe my transition to motherhood as smooth, I am passionate about my little ones and relishing in the beautiful and short years that they will be with me. My photography business has the ability to keep me busy, but I love being able to set my own schedule and create more space if that’s what I need. It’s also been a wonderful creative outlet for me during the chaos that accompanies these years with young ones all around.

How many children do you have and what are they like?

My firstborn, Jaryn Rose, is 5 going on 15. She’s articulate and sassy, with a sensitive side that craves down time and quiet. Raynen, my soon-to-be middle child, is a little ball of fire and attitude. She is stubborn and hilarious and fearlessly daring. She has speech apraxia and sensory processing disorder which plunged us into the world of therapy and special needs, but everyday she makes me more the mama I want to be.

Do you have a favourite quote or words that inspire you?

“If you watched a movie about a guy who wanted a Volvo and worked for years to get it, you wouldn’t cry at the end when he drove off the lot, testing the windshield wipers. You wouldn’t tell your friends you saw a beautiful movie or go home and put a record on to think about the story you’d seen. The truth is, you wouldn’t remember that movie a week later, except you’d feel robbed and want your money back. Nobody cries at the end of a movie about a guy who wants a Volvo. But we spend years actually living those stories, and expect our lives to be meaningful. The truth is, if what we choose to do with our lives won’t make a story meaningful, it won’t make a life meaningful either” – Donald Miller: A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

“We never fully realize how strong the grip of consumerism is on our lives until we try to remove it.” – Joshua Becker

This could not have been more true for me. I thought I was naturally minimalistic. I don’t hold onto every scrap of paper my kids scribble on and I regularly clean out my closet and donate old clothing. But saying no to new and unnecessary things required another kind of determination. Saying no to the patterns of first world consumerism meant taking a hard look at what I owned, what brought me joy, and what story I wanted to write.

What is your story? What drew you to minimalism or what motivated you to become a minimalist?

I used to joke that laziness is what made me become a minimalist but in reality it was exhaustion. Pure exhaustion. All day: cleaning up and putting away and organizing and stepping on toys. Constantly telling my kids to pick up after themselves. And still, it seemed, at the end of every day my husband would get home from work and the house would be a disaster. A trail of tutus and blocks and coloring pages and books, down the hallway and invading every room. All day: trying to keep the kids entertained. Coming up with new activities and reminding them of all the stuff they had to play with, just to be told how “bored” they were. It was maddening. How could they have so much and be so discontent? How could they have bins and closets and drawers of toys that “encourage imaginative play” and never use their imagination? At first, I thought maybe they weren’t old enough or maybe imagination was something that had to be taught. But as I slowly removed the excess, I realized imagination isn’t learned and has no age requirement, but it is easily smothered. Their imaginations were buried beneath a layer of unnecessary excess.

I believe there are many ways to be a minimalist and many forms of minimalism. What does minimalism mean to you?

When I started this journey, I believed minimalism was purely about the usefulness of what I kept in my home. If I used it on a regular basis, it could stay but I needed to stop storing things that I didn’t use all the time. I also wanted to be intentional and thoughtful about the quantity of each thing I was keeping. Now, I’ve learned to part with things that, yes, I could use, but not often enough to keep in my house. I’ve also found items that have more than one purpose so I can eliminate the need for multiples. I found this useful with kitchen items. Yes. I purged my kitchen. Who needs 15 mixing bowls anyways?

One of the things I didn’t expect was how it would change my view of “bargain shopping”. I used to love to find a deal. Get something cheap. Find it for a low price and buy 4. Now I have less qualms about buying something quality that will last longer, accomplish more, and allow me to have just 1. I’ve applied this to my clothes shopping as well. I’m not my kids, I don’t need new sizes every 6 months. And I know what I like. I found that I wore the same outfits often and kept lots of clothing that never made it out the door with me because I would go back to my favorite pieces. One rule I put in place for a while to help me purge my closet was that if I put it on while getting ready and took it off to change into something else, I would purge that piece of clothing. If I wasn’t going to wear it in the moment it actually made it off the hanger and onto my body, I was never going to wear it. Bye, bye.

Minimalism also means living out from under the weight of obligation. There was so much I kept because I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. This mainly applied to gifts. If it isn’t useful or beautiful to me, I had to let it go. And just because I loved something once, doesn’t mean I have to keep it forever.

Lastly, minimalism has affected my time and how I fill my schedule. The same way I’ve learned to say no to overfilling my home, I’ve learned to say no to overfilling my schedule. The same way I’ve created empty spaces in every room and drawer and closet, I’ve created empty spaces in my days and weeks and months. And the same way owning less has given me the freedom to enjoy more, doing less has given me the freedom to say yes to the ones that matter most to me.

Minimalism is not just a one time event. A yearly purge. Or the same as spring cleaning. Minimalism is intentionally choosing to live with less. To live with room. To live for experiences instead of things. To have time and space for events and items that bring me joy.

“Minimalism isn’t deprivation, it’s liberation.” – Joshua Becker

Are there any books, websites or other resources that have inspired your minimalism?

www.becomingminimalist.com is an amazing website that got me started. The founder, Joshua Becker, also wrote a book called Clutterfree with Kids and it really helped me take things to the next level. It doesn’t just explain the “how” behind decluttering and the minimalist lifestyle, but includes the “why”, which I think is so important for maintenance and any long term change.

In what ways/areas do you struggle with maintaining your minimalist goals/values? What is your weakness?

My greatest struggle is clothing. As someone who has struggled with weight issues for years, I battle the desire to keep old sizes and buy new sizes and then save the sizes I’m no longer wearing. I also think I purchased clothes because I believed if I had something new it would make me feel better about my body but that never turned out to be true. In fact, I always ended up wearing my tried and true favorites from brands I really loved and in that way, minimalism has been a perfect fit for my wardrobe. But it’s still been hard to say no when I see something I like or think would be flattering. The part that’s made it easier is thinking about the amount of clothes I’ve donated since starting this journey. I remember specifically a few items that still had the tags on them! If that doesn’t make you pause long and hard before a purchase I don’t know what will!

You have a third child on the way. Has minimalism influenced how you are preparing for your newest addition?

Almost two years of intentionally pursuing this lifestyle, preparing for another wee one has shown me what a huge change has really been made. Obviously with the first baby, it’s hard to know what you’ll actually need. You have to just go with what everyone is telling you. And giving you. So of course, I have experience on my side this time around. But even so, there’s plenty of “things” that I could use or buy or hope for. I could buy lots of clothes and register for multiples of everything. Instead, I narrowed down my wish list to actual needs (a place to sleep, something to wear, and blanket to keep warm) and then I choose to only bring a certain number of these items into my home. I don’t need 30 newborn outfits. Or 12 swaddling blankets. I bring in smaller amounts of the necessities and say no to the rest. It’s so freeing not to feel a pull toward all the things. I don’t feel weighed down and burdened while waiting to bring a new life into the world. Instead I can focus on the beauty of what my body is doing- the rest that I need to stay healthy- and remind myself I already have everything I need to welcome another little one earthside.

Have there been any struggles with the other people you live with about living in a minimal way?

For the most part my husband has been totally on board. I know this isn’t the case for lots of couples, so I’m grateful. I think his biggest concern early on, watching trunk loads of home goods being donated, was that I was giving it all away to eventually replace it. It took time, but eventually I was able to prove that was not the case. He learned my motives and my determination and has been fully supportive ever since.

My older daughter also showed some resistance when we first began. Suddenly, toys she hadn’t played with in months were her greatest treasures. But when I showed her the pile of clothes I was giving away and decorations and jewelry, she warmed up to the idea knowing I wasn’t only purging her things. Since then, it’s just constant conversation about why we live this way. Making sure they understand the “why” behind the lifestyle and inviting them to be a part of it.

Have you had any positive or negative experiences with friends or family related to minimalism?

Both sets of grandparents currently live within a 15 mile radius of us, and there are so many reasons this makes us lucky. But it was also part of the reason our girls had an overabundance of… well… everything. And in the beginning their responses varied from disappointed confusion, to totally ignoring what we asked and buying lots of gifts anyways.

One of the things that helped was making suggestions of what to give the girls as gifts instead. I appreciate their generosity and their desire to spoil their grandbabies, so I didn’t want to rob them of that entirely. Encouraging ice cream dates, and train rides, and Disneyland tickets and taking them to ride the carousel — making them realize there’s still ways to give them something special without it being wrapped in a bag and bow, helped them get on board. I think it also got easier for them when they saw the reactions to the “experience” type gifts versus the toy aisle type gifts. Not only were the girls more excited and engaged, they remembered it and talked about it at every family get together for months afterwards. It wasn’t just another doll collecting dust under the bed.

In what ways has minimalism improved your life?

I don’t spend as much money. I don’t spend as much time cleaning. And cleaning. And cleaning. I have more free time. More: yes time. More: play time. I don’t see bigger houses and feel envy and desire. In fact, sometimes I feel downright grateful that I found minimalism before I slaved my way into a home that would really serve as a giant storage unit. A place to put all the things that I’ve accumulated and have no use for. It’s improved my life because I’m lighter, freer, more content, and more available. That’s the kind of wife and mother and friend I want to be.

What advice can you offer to people interested in living a minimalist lifestyle?

Start somewhere. Anywhere. Start small.

Don’t tackle the sentimental stuff first. Don’t let your first project be the entire garage. Start with the countertops. Start with a drawer. Start with the easy stuff. Clothes with holes and stains. Toys that are broken. Then go another layer deeper.

Go through your entire closet. Donate the shoes you don’t wear. How many winter jackets do you need? What’s shoved on those shelves that you can’t even reach? Is it time to let it go?

Watch yourself feel lighter. The decisions will get easier. Repeat the process as many times as necessary.

Lastly, find a resource. Bloggers that inspire you. Books that give direction. There are so many resources available. And there are so many ways to pursue minimalism.

You can find Amanda on Instagram @mytinytribe or her photography website www.amandarose.photography. Thank you, Amanda, for sharing your story and tips.

Readers: if you are a minimalist or know someone who is that may be great for an interview on my blog, please be in touch with me by email at hippieindisguise1@gmail.com or via direct message on Instagram.

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Seasonal Traditions & Apple Picking in Mini Mioche

September 11, 2015October 23, 20185 Comments

I love capturing our seasonal traditions though photography. Last weekend we went apple picking for the first time this year. It was lots of fun and hard work, which for a child are usually the same thing. Sen’s favourite part was using the ladder, which he moved and readjusted about a hundred times for pure enjoyment, meanwhile, Ro kept moving from tree to tree searching for the perfect apple with the perfect leaf. We completed our visit to the farm with some good old fashioned hay jumping and a game of tetherball. Sen figured he was pretty much a Junior Farmer by the end of the day.

I decided to outfit Ro and Sen in their mini mioche basics, so that I could capture their hard work in the closest thing I had to farmer’s attire: overalls and a shirt (the overalls sadly are getting small…so if you are wondering about sizing they are each wearing overalls two sizes too small). I don’t remember how I came across mini mioche, but it has been a few years now that Ro and Sen have been wearing their lovely line of organic basics, designed and made every step of the way here in Canada.

There can be a temptation, when budgets are tight, to spend our dollars on stand out pieces in our wardrobes, a special dress or a unique item, something that has impact. Basics typically don’t stand out in a wardrobe, and so it may be the place where we are tempted to cut costs and buy from discount stores, like Old Navy or Joe Fresh. And yet, basics are the backbone of any wardrobe, they are the ‘go tos’ to complete a look, they typically get the most wear, and are the heart of a reliable capsule wardrobe.

We love special pieces of clothing, but know that investing in quality basics is important. Supporting local shops and local production, and buying organic is important no matter whether the item stands out or not.

As many of you know, I love to learn from mothers who are also entrepreneurs and artists, hear about how they balance life and how they started their business. I think you’ll enjoy hearing from Alyssa, the woman behind mini mioche.

How would you describe Mini Mioche in 5 words?

Simple, cool, comfortable, sustainable and practical.

Tell me a little bit about yourself, the person behind Mini Mioche. What is your background?

I previously worked in wholesale fashion and owned a fashion sales agency in Toronto selling adult clothing brands to retailers for about 12 years (I sold it in December 2014). After I had my daughter 7 years ago, I took a little bit of time off (like a month or so) and during that time I came to the conclusion that as much as I loved fashion and my wholesale business, I wanted to do something that was a little more creative and that I could have more control over and so drawing upon my experience and contacts in the fashion industry, I set about designing and launching the first mini mioche infant basics collection.

You call yourself a serial entrepreneur, what do you think draws you to start something new?

I have always said that I have an addiction to newness. Part of it is that I definitely get bored easily and love to be challenged constantly. I have a lot of ideas and also have ‘focus issues’, that combined with the fact that I am really not risk-averse, means that I like to embark on new ideas and projects often. Part of the reason I sold my other business is that I recognized how important focus is when it comes to anything really – but especially growing a business. So that is my new goal – to try not to get distracted by other ideas and to just focus solely on growing this business and making it really amazing.

Why did you decide to get into designing children’s clothing?

I’ve always loved baby and kids clothing – even before I had children of my own. There is something about mini versions of adult clothing that just kills me. I am a total jeans and tees kind of girl and I wanted to dress my daughter in a similar aesthetic. After she was born, I was surprised at how hard it was to find nice, well-made, decently priced, soft infant and kids basics – especially in neutral colours like grey, white, black etc. I couldn’t stand all the stuff on the market at that time with cheesy sayings or graphic prints. As I mentioned before, I was also looking for something new and more creative to do at that time and so mini mioche was born.

What did you want to be when you were a child?

I always wanted to do something involving fashion – I think I wanted to be a personal shopper, although I’m not sure that even existed back when I was a kid.

What does Mini Mioche mean? Why did you choose this name for your brand?

When I was pregnant with my daughter, my husband and I referred to her as ‘mini’ the entire time she was in utero. She was born full term and healthy but she was mini – weighing only 5 lbs 4 oz so the name stuck for a little while. She is 7 years old now and so not mini! My mom always shared my love of beautiful, well-made children’s clothing and when I was little she used to shop for me once in a while at a store in the Yorkville area of Toronto called Les Mioches. I really wanted to include the word ‘mini’ in the brand name since it was meaningful to me and I just liked how it sounded with the word ‘mioche’, which is sort of a slang word meaning tot or brat in Parisian french.

Organics, sustainability and local production are important to you. How do you translate these into your designs and your business model?

These things are all intrinsic to the mini mioche brand. From the beginning I wanted all of our clothing to be made locally and ethically by people who are paid a fair living wage and are treated well. We still do basically everything here in Toronto from knitting the fabric to dying it, to the cutting and sewing. We design our own graphics and have them printed locally. We partner with other local designers and companies on various collaborations and capsule collections (such as bookhou and Heart & Habit). All of our fabrics are knit from organic cotton yarns and we try not to use any plastic at all – we don’t receive product in plastic bags and we don’t ship it in plastic. We try to be as sustainable and environmentally conscious in every part of our process and we also believe strongly in supporting local business, including local manufacturing.

I have loved your collaborations with Toronto design-duo bookhou and blogger Brandy Mercredi. How did those collaborations come about?

Brandy, who is the blogger and designer behind Heart & Habit, and I met a while back now – to be honest I can’t remember exactly how – I think she wrote about mini mioche on her blog and we just started chatting from there. A little while ago she reached out to me because she had some ideas for a line of graphic tees that she thought would be right up our alley and as it turns out, it was! Our first collaboration launched in spring 2014 and we just launched our third collection together. For fall 2015 we have something really amazing lined up.

I have always loved and admired bookhou’s beautiful products and prints and one day a thought just popped into my head: ‘How amazing would those prints look on our clothes’? So I sent the owner, Arounna an email and the rest is history – we just launched our third bookhou for mini mioche collection for fall 2015.

Everywhere I go with my kids when they are wearing your clothing, I hear adults tell me they want them in their size. Do you plan to expand the line? What about Mama Mioche?

So this goes back to your second question – the one about being a serial entrepreneur. I do hear requests for adult versions of our clothing often and I never say never, but for now I am all about ‘focus’ and that means just sticking to baby and kids apparel – at least for now.

Do you have any new projects in the works?

We always have new projects in the works but our primary focus right now is on our online business and growing that, so most of what we are doing is geared towards making that a more functional aspect of our business and an amazing experience for our online customer.

What has made you the most proud of what you’re doing?

The reality is that starting a business and growing a business is really, really hard. I don’t have anyone telling me what to do or how to do it. I have had to figure it out on my own for the most part and along the way I have made some (very big) mistakes. There were many days where I questioned what I was doing and why I was doing it and if it was worth it. So I guess I would have to say the thing I am most proud of is just that I am still here, doing it and that it is growing and actually working pretty well.

When you are all caught up on work, what do you love to do?

I love to hang out with my hubs and two kids. I love to spend weekends skiing up north or relaxing at the cottage with good family and friends. I love to shop. I love binge watching really good tv. I also never turn down a good glass of wine.

You can find mini mioche online at www.minimioche.com, where they sell their in-house line of organic basics, but also all sorts of premium brands, shoes, and accessories. Think Herschel, Salt Water Sandals and Hunter Boots. You can also find them on Instagram @minimioche.

**With the Canadian dollar weak these days, it is a great time for American and international shoppers to take advantage of Canadian prices.

Hippie in Disguise

slow living, minimalism and connection with nature

Tag: capsule wardrobe

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