Vancouver is home to a thriving fashion industry made up of individuals committed to its growth and success. Get to know these personalities in The Inseam and discover what makes the Vancouver Fashion scene so awesome.

Photo: courtesy Gaile Guevara

Blood Alley at dusk isn’t too bad when you are (a) on a work mission, (b) about to step into a cool little spot like Judas Goat, or (c) meeting with a friendly colleague. Luckily, I had a, b and c to look forward to when I sat down with Edita Hadravska.

Edita is the Senior Designer for the upcoming 24 line at Arc’teryx. A fairly recent transplant from Europe, Edita is also an avid skier with a love for the outdoors, Vancouver city life, and a great companion over wine.

Edita’s role is to head up a team developing a comprehensive casual offering from Arc’teryx, a product group called 24. Re-launching in 2013, the line will feature items that outdoor lovers can expect to wear inside and everywhere in between. “Arc’teryx is known for its iconic outerwear products, like mountaineering jackets, harnesses and extreme proprietary technologies. The 24 collection is about the everyday and falling in love with the ordinary. It’s about downtime and everything in between those highly specific outdoor activities,” explains Edita.

It all began when she moved to Vancouver just over one year ago, after completing several stints from Saigon to Switzerland. Although Edita has a solid background in fashion design, it was a very different experience that drove her towards a creative career. “My first university degree was in law. I was in mergers and acquisitions, working as an attorney for two years.  It was creative in its own way but I really missed drawing, photography and working with visuals,” says Edita. She discusses how she then moved to Montreal to study design, and upon her return to Europe, found herself working for various fashion companies in Prague and Zurich. She also moved to Asia for her job for almost two years, which allowed her to learn and design incredibly close to the reality of production.

When I ask Edita about her design process, I came to learn that there is serious involvement when it comes to production at a large wholesale business such as Arc’teryx. First off, design begins two years in advance, then past and future goals are considered, followed by lots of negotiation before products are finalized and put into production. Edita explains, “As a designer, you want to focus on the sample and making it perfect, but to get it into production, it needs to go beyond that. It needs to be replicated, optimized and efficient; it needs to support, not water down the brand and our performance standards. It can’t just be beautiful, intelligent and functional; it needs to consider production and other challenges the answers for which need to be built into to the actual design.”

This careful attention to detail is what we can expect in the future from Arc’teryx. Along with 24, we can expect growing product lines and a stricter focus for each collection. “We are going through the process of bringing in more and more experienced people from the outside for product line management . We are always trying to innovate with new fabrics, construction and developing our own proprietary technologies; always checking against our two ultimate goals – lasting durability and impeccable performance.”

Edita continues, “As a designer with an eye for technical details, Arc’teryx is one of the top three companies that you want to work for. There is a wealth of knowledge and skills that I came into. I think that the biggest challenge is to make sure that the collection is coherent while trying to inject your vision without compromising the brand.”

Fortunately, Edita is grateful to work with a focused and talented group of people, saying, “It’s very team-based and there is an amazing amount of inspiration floating around the room.”

As a locally based company, there is no question that the team at Arc’teryx draws on heavily on the outdoor experience. “We all love skiing and ski touring, climbing, and everybody is absolutely passionate about the outdoors and probably would have trouble living in a different place,” says Edita.

It is fitting then, that Arc’teryx has chosen Edita to represent them. She says, “To me, Vancouver is an incredible place because we have the ocean and the mountains, and there’s a lot of creativity here. The first time that I landed, I just completely fell in love. It was in 2004, when I was living in Saigon. It was summer, the air was clear, and I could still see snow on the tips of the mountains.”