What it means to be Canadian—and at Nordstrom
Originality. Practicality. Sustainability. Canadian designers care a lot about these things. Here, some of the best creative minds in Canadian fashion talk about their style, their principles and what being available at Nordstrom means to them. Find your store at Nordstrom.ca
OUR STYLE ETHOS
Chloé: “Beaufille” loosely translates to handsome girl. It explores the contrast between masculine and feminine and also describes the girl we’re designing for.
Parris: We’re always trying to design under that idea—the ethos of bringing together masculine and feminine, hard and soft. We’re thinking of that in every piece.
ON BEING SISTERS
Chloé: We have an ingrained sense of trust in one another. Parris will never get up and walk away from a discussion. We’re very different people, but we balance each other out, and it makes us well-rounded as a design team.
Parris: Our relationship makes working together easier because we have the same quality standards, background and upbringing. It’s great to have a partner who is also family.
OUR CANADIAN DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
Parris: As designers, we always try to create pieces that make people dream a little, but there’s an essential practicality to Canadian design.
Chloé: As Canadians, we’re more conservative and practical. When you go outside of Canada to a fashion capital, you see people wearing really crazy things. That’s not to say we don’t love to make a piece or two that’s a bit out there, but being Canadian and designing in Canada, we do have an underlying, even subconscious, thread of practicality.
THE NORDSTROM ADVANTAGE
Chloé: It’s a dream to see our work in Nordstrom. Inclusivity is a really big part of Nordstrom’s business and I think that’s an amazing thing to be a part of. It’s great that a company that sells high fashion is also pushing for inclusivity.
Parris: And Nordstrom, as a retailer, supports so many sizes. They order such a wide size range from us, which I think is really important. They definitely listen to customer feedback a lot and stay very current.
OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Matt & Nat stands for “material and nature.” We’re proud to be a vegan company that produces beautiful, contemporary accessories without touching leather.
THE POWER OF ETHICAL DESIGN
For about 10 years now, we’ve partnered with an ethical factory in Taiwan to create a lining for our bags. It’s made from 100-per-cent recycled plastic bottles. It looks amazing, and it’s eco-friendly. Really, the whole market is changing. In fact, the world is changing. There are so many factories in Europe now producing beautiful polyurethane— it’s vegan, and more biodegradable than PVC. The quality is amazing. The look is amazing. More and more companies want to produce something great-looking without harming animals.
OUR ARCHITECTURAL INFLUENCES
Whenever I travel, I take a lot of pictures— I’m an architecture freak. We’re just about to launch a new collection called Studio 901. It’s a bit more luxury, and all the pieces are based on the shapes and lines of architecture.
OUR CANADIAN EXPANSION
We just opened a store in Australia, and one in Soho in New York. We’ve been in the U.K. since 2004, and sales are growing there. We’re also in Japan and Germany. It’s very rewarding to be a Canadian brand and see how we’re expanding worldwide.
THE NORDSTROM ADVANTAGE
When Nordstrom opened in Canada, I was personally grateful—they have great menswear! We’re also very proud to have Matt & Nat at Nordstrom. We’ve been partners for seven years and our partnership is growing every year.
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/style/what-it-means-to-be-canadian/&title=What it means to be Canadian—and at Nordstrom&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/EAL_2836.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_473655" align="alignnone" width="1202"] Parris and Chloé Gordon, the sisters behind Beaufille, on how they bring a fashion-forward sense to downtown cool[/caption]
OUR STYLE ETHOS
Chloé: “Beaufille” loosely translates to handsome girl. It explores the contrast between masculine and feminine and also describes the girl we’re designing for.
Parris: We’re always trying to design under that idea—the ethos of bringing together masculine and feminine, hard and soft. We’re thinking of that in every piece.
ON BEING SISTERS
Chloé: We have an ingrained sense of trust in one another. Parris will never get up and walk away from a discussion. We’re very different people, but we balance each other out, and it makes us well-rounded as a design team.
Parris: Our relationship makes working together easier because we have the same quality standards, background and upbringing. It’s great to have a partner who is also family.
OUR CANADIAN DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
Parris: As designers, we always try to create pieces that make people dream a little, but there’s an essential practicality to Canadian design.
Chloé: As Canadians, we’re more conservative and practical. When you go outside of Canada to a fashion capital, you see people wearing really crazy things. That’s not to say we don’t love to make a piece or two that’s a bit out there, but being Canadian and designing in Canada, we do have an underlying, even subconscious, thread of practicality.
THE NORDSTROM ADVANTAGE
Chloé: It’s a dream to see our work in Nordstrom. Inclusivity is a really big part of Nordstrom’s business and I think that’s an amazing thing to be a part of. It’s great that a company that sells high fashion is also pushing for inclusivity.
Parris: And Nordstrom, as a retailer, supports so many sizes. They order such a wide size range from us, which I think is really important. They definitely listen to customer feedback a lot and stay very current.
[caption id="attachment_473658" align="alignnone" width="1800"] Matt & Nat’s vegan CEO Manny Kohli talks about taking over the world of ethical fashion[/caption]
OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Matt & Nat stands for “material and nature.” We’re proud to be a vegan company that produces beautiful, contemporary accessories without touching leather.
THE POWER OF ETHICAL DESIGN
For about 10 years now, we’ve partnered with an ethical factory in Taiwan to create a lining for our bags. It’s made from 100-per-cent recycled plastic bottles. It looks amazing, and it’s eco-friendly. Really, the whole market is changing. In fact, the world is changing. There are so many factories in Europe now producing beautiful polyurethane— it’s vegan, and more biodegradable than PVC. The quality is amazing. The look is amazing. More and more companies want to produce something great-looking without harming animals.
OUR ARCHITECTURAL INFLUENCES
Whenever I travel, I take a lot of pictures— I’m an architecture freak. We’re just about to launch a new collection called Studio 901. It’s a bit more luxury, and all the pieces are based on the shapes and lines of architecture.
OUR CANADIAN EXPANSION
We just opened a store in Australia, and one in Soho in New York. We’ve been in the U.K. since 2004, and sales are growing there. We’re also in Japan and Germany. It’s very rewarding to be a Canadian brand and see how we’re expanding worldwide.
THE NORDSTROM ADVANTAGE
When Nordstrom opened in Canada, I was personally grateful—they have great menswear! We’re also very proud to have Matt & Nat at Nordstrom. We’ve been partners for seven years and our partnership is growing every year.){kind=link}