As some of you may have seen, we have officially launched
AKA DECOR in stores! This past week has been a crazy one and so many things have happened that we never imagined happening so soon.
I'll start by telling you a little bit about our newborn,
AKA DECOR.
I've been interested and intrigued by interior decorating for a long time and have slowly been wanting to dip my toes into it for myself. I got the idea of cushions last summer. I thought, someone needs to be making cushions. They are so marketable, so cool, and you can put ANYTHING on them. I was venting to everyone about how someone needs to make this happen, ...but it can't really be me. (que 5000 other things going on) .... so, in comes Katie. She was on maternity leave and really open and also intrigued by this new idea. We brainstormed possibilities and logistics, by the end of the night our brand was forming.
AKA stands for Art known as. This is where we incorporate our love for all things art, photography, poetry and design into our product. All of our designs are made from original artwork. -This is most of the fun. All of our materials are from north america and the cushions themselves are handmade by Katie.
The startup life is less then glamorous, but we can't say that it's not rewarding. We are part of an entrepreneurial program by Enterprise Saint John, called Venture Garage. They have all the resources for startups and eager people willing to give us a hand. Many late nights are spent at Connexionworks and googling suppliers, inspiration and budgeting. Ups and downs, breakdowns and highs. But as they say, hard work pays off. We are now wholesaling to two stores in Saint John. What?
In less then a year our brand has been in the works, and lucky for us there are some amazing people out there willing to give us a shot.
Judith Mackin, the creator of
Tuck Studio, has been mentoring us for a while now. We can't thank her enough for believing in our vision and helping us bring it to life and to the shelves of her store.
These very waters is an exclusive line to Tuck. It is a collaboration of my photography, combined with poetry by New Brunswick poet, Charles G. D. Roberts and handmade by Katie.
One of the coolest things about AKA is that we can really put meaning into our lines. These very waters hits close to home. The poetry is New Brunswick based and the lines were carefully chosen by Katie and I and matched with our favorite beaches in the city.
Artist Statement:
Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. Port City. Renaissance City. Harbour City. There are many ways that our city is identified, both by natives and by visitors. Personally, when we think Saint John, we think beaches. We think of crashing waves and driftwood, expansive views, sparkling sea, and steep embankments overlooking rugged coastline. Remarkable beaches are very much part of the unique, dynamic nature of Saint John.
We present our view of these beaches in counterpoint to poetry written by 19th century New Brunswick poet Charles G D Roberts.
On Thursday, we had our first ever opening at Tuck. Is is seriously the most gorgeous furniture & decor store in the city. It looks like its straight out of New York City. The products are clean, detailed and perfect. I cannot believe we are selling here.
We had an amazing turnout and we are still are in awe. Thank you to everyone who came out to support this new brand, we really really appreciate it.
