THE PALETTE (Brand Canvas)

KMANA is a passionate, ethical, family-run design company producing leather travel bags and accessories handcrafted in Bali. Their products, from the bag to the hardware and the linen, are entirely hand-made by skillful artisans from Bali and Jogjakarta. We sat down with founder, Bea Sanz Corella to discuss her passions and concept behind the brand. 

Seated in his cozy shop, Simon, founder of Otso, began to tell me the story behind his nature-focused brand. 

“SAFETY IS SXC” reads the bright yellow sign above Gemma Baxter’s head as we Zoom chat to discuss her brand, to Barwyn and Back. An architecture graduate turned fashion designer, Gemma has built her brand by finding the parallels between her passions: architecture, design, and cycling. 

Scarborough drive, or SBDr, is an innovative upcycle brand producing casual men’s street wear. Founder David Hice details his inspiration for starting the brand.

The Canvas sat down with Nicole Rattner, founder of Sourcery Label, a brand re-inventing our relationship with silk. Nicole began by detailing her experience as a designer for large fashion brands, in which she was able to take on roles of production, development, and sourcing.

Founder Cristina Aguayo details her inspiration for starting her sustainable swimsuit brand, REVVV SWIM. 

Up-fuse is an Egyptian brand, founded in 2015, focused on upcycling plastic bags into sustainable backpacks, purses, and accessories. Yara and Rania, the founders of Up-fuse, detail their inspiration behind starting Up-Fuse while living in Cairo, Egypt.   

The Palette sat down with Yurac, founder of Peruvian brand Qaytu.

OMNIA EX NIHILO is a NYC based brand creating effortless and ethical garments. Its unique name is a Latin phrase meaning “everything out of nothing.” Co-founder and lead designer Ashley Wheat explains, “This is the philosophy of the brand, which means everything starts from something very small. So, if you want to make a big change to something, you’ve got to start small. Our fabrics start from a seed. We would rather take small, positive steps towards our growth, instead of taking shortcuts or compromising quality.” 

BrownMill Company, BrownMill for short, began as an initiative to express creativity and design abilities. The idea was to make money off of doing what they loved—creating. Whether it was making bow ties, t-shirts or organizing school programs, they loved the idea of engaging their immediate community and building a culture around it. The name of the brand originated from a mix of the founder Justis Pitt-Goodson grandparents’ names (John “Brown” Pitt and “Mil”dred Pitt).

Tove by Design, recently T by Dem, was founded by Tove and her need for a great garment that made her feel well dressed and look the part for her trade. At that time, her trade was representing her and her husband's glass company on markets, stores and shows. After a meeting with Annik Axelsonn, Tove found a new career focus in textiles. With the help of Amanda Nordin, a Garment Technologist in Gothenburg, she developed her original design, the Maker Skirt: a wrap-skirt that folds in the back, allowing for front pockets— the garment she always wanted.

The phrase “infinite love and gratitude,” inspires the work and life of Emy, founder of sustainable streetwear brand Ipsilon, or "Y" in Italian. Founded on the principles of positivity and sustainability, the Paris based brand commits to spreading its uplifting message through slogan t-shirts and upcycling projects.