Fall is a great time of year to refresh our closets and kick our style quotient up a notch. But if we all shop at the same big stores we'll end up wearing the same stuff, right? I love unearthing plucky style start-ups because they offer unique pieces with stories behind them. And that's exactly what I've got for you today.
Peeps, meet Wear Skyline. This Canadian start-up was designed to encourage travel, adventure, and especially: local pride. Their clothing for women and men features distinctive prints that show off a slew of great cities, including New York, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and of course Ottawa.
Here's a taste of Wear Skyline's hometown collection for us 613 dwellers:
I love a brand that lets me slather my Ottawa pride across my chest, so I caught up with founder Geoff Burnside to find out more about his start-up.
AMYIN613: Hey there Geoff! Thanks for chatting with me today. How'd Wear Skyline get started?
GEOFF: I launched Wear Skyline in spring 2016. I started with some bigger cities like Toronto and New York, but since Ottawa is my hometown I wanted to make sure it was a big part of my collection.
AMYIN613: That's such an Ottawa way to operate. We often don't put ourselves into the spotlight first, eh? Why did you feel our little city needed a way to express itself?
GEOFF: Well, it can be difficult for people in Ottawa to find ways to show their love for the city other than in the form of a Sens jersey. And I’m hoping that by building some recognition around my designs, Ottawa can start to compete with Toronto when it comes to local pride. I want to put up a counter against the Toronto vs. Everybody or SixSide march that's all over the place.
AMYIN613: Bring it on. I'd love to see that happen! I noticed your site says all your designs are made to order; does that mean there's a bit of a wait between ordering and receiving?
GEOFF: We use a method called drop shipping, which means all our clothing is printed to order and shipped directly to the customer. It helps us keep our prices low and reduce our environmental impact because we're not sitting on a bunch of stock at a warehouse. Most Canadian orders take about two weeks from the time you place the order til it arrives at your doorstep.
(Here's hubby and I sporting Wear Skyline: I'm wearing the Ottawa Tank and hubby's wearing the limited edition Canadiana tee)
AMYIN613: Got it. It looks like your orders ship from the United States. Does that mean your prices are in USD?
Yes, our prices are in USD. Although we pride ourselves on being a Canadian-founded company, our popularity across North America combined with our relationship with our drop shipper -- plus the reality of being an e-commerce platform these days -- all make working with the US dollar a lot easier. Canadian customers are always welcome to email us at hello@wearskyline.com if they have any questions before ordering.
AMYIN613: Thanks so much for chatting with me Geoff, and best of luck growing your biz!
win $100 TO SPEND AT Wear Skyline
I'm giving away a $100 Wear Skyline shopping spree! That means one of you lucky folks can go bananas shopping for tees, tanks, hoodies -- and since my chat with Geoff he's launched a home decor section too! That means you can also shop for Ottawa mugs, wall art, or a cozy throw for your couch.
You can even shop the other city collections if you really want, because I guess Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver are kinda okay.
Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below and the more actions you complete the more times your name goes into the hat. Contest is open WORLDWIDE and I'll announce a winner on September 16.
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