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“One to Watch” interview

Earlier this year we won the Pirouette blog one to watch award, and they recently published a profile on us: 

“Sustainability, organic production and quality with the possibility of longevity are why Devon’s Drawer were our Pirouette One To Watch Award Winners (Fashion AW18) at Playtime NY back in February this year. Flash forward in the childrenswear calendar and they are ready to launch their exquisite heirloom AW18 collection on-line from the 24th of August.

The pieces are made from beautiful organic fabrics, some featuring gorgeous cotton lining (equally organic). Just make sure to look out for the plaid recycled wool bomber! This is a family business Mother and daughters creating children’s garments to be passed to and from siblings and through generations. Let’s find out more from our award winners Devon’s Drawer…”

You can read the whole piece here.

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Inspiring women - Freja Troelsen

My interview with the sweet and talented Freja is the third instalment in my series of interviews with inspiring women (check out my interview with Ashley Jensen from Mouse in the House shop here and my interview with Sanne Hop here, if you missed it)

One thing that has been both lovely but also surprising about starting this business is all the lovely women I've connected with. If I'm going to be honest, I was never much of a customer service person, and I was a bit leery about getting into what is essentially a customer service business. But wow was I ever wrong. Connecting with other women, our customers, and making new friends has actually been the most rewarding thing about starting Devon's Drawer.

I wanted to do this interview series to share a bit about the amazing women I've met. These women have been so gracious, answered my (probably silly) questions, given me advice, and supported our little business, and I am eternally grateful.

I met Freja through Instagram. I can't remember exactly when I stumbled across her page, but I instantly fell in love with the moody chiaroscuro look of her photographs. We've since become friends, and she very kindly agreed to let me interview her for this series. I love her Women and Their Children project, so make sure to check that out.

For those who may not know you, can you tell us who you are?

Hello. First of all, thank you so much for letting me take part in this. I’m Freja, and I’m 26 years old, living in the city of Copenhagen with my two kids, Frigg (3 years old) and Fridtjof (1 year old), and my boyfriend and father of the children, Jonas, or Fjonas as I call him because he is the only one in our family without a name that begins with the letter F. My days go by with studies, writing, and photographing, but first of all I’m a mother. And, of course, occasionally I spend some time with a friend or two.

What or who inspires you?

I get inspired by my kids. I actually didn’t really photograph before becoming a mother, but it’s like they change my way of seeing things. I see beauty in the little things now – in those little moments of our ordinary daily life, and that is truly my inspiration for my writing, for my photographs, and for the way I live my life.

The light is a big inspiration to me too, and it’s actually like I don’t even function on grey days without light, and you might think I live in the wrong country then, cause here in Denmark it rains 150 days a year, but then again, I don’t think the light would inspire me the way it does, if it was just here all the time.

Instagram is a source of inspiration too. It’s just amazing with a platform like that, with so many talented and kind-hearted people – across all countries and different lifestyles. And it was on Instagram I met you!

What are you looking forward to this year?

I’m looking forward to have some time off. My maternity leave ended three months ago, and our days have just been crazily busy ever since, and I miss those slow days – taking long naps and playing on the floor. I have a final exam in a few weeks, and then I actually have two months off to finally give my neglected projects some much needed attention, and just be with my family without those stressful thoughts about to-dos running circles in my head. I really am looking forward to that, and that is what keeps me going right now. I’m not the coolest person under pressure, I must say, but I somehow always end up being so busy. But I really do enhoy to do absolutely nothing sometimes, to just be, because when I’m relaxed the creativity flows – and then suddenly I’m super busy again.

Could you talk about your “Women and their Children” project? What inspired this project?

Women and their children is one of those neglected projects I really look forward to working on again. I actually just scheduled my first shoot for this project after taking a very long break. I started this project shortly after giving birth to my youngest. When I was about seven months pregnant with him, I got a hormon-based depression, and it was, without a doubt, the hardest thing I have ever went through. I felt the depression was out of my hands, like it just suddenly took over, and I was so scared to welcome him to this world, and so scared that I wouldn’t get better. When I gave birth to my little boy something the doctors have since described as a radical hormon change happened, and I could feel that change the very second I held him in my arms for the first time – I came back to my normal self, but I felt so ashamed not having this happy pregnancy, and the ”right” feelings waiting for him, butone day I decided that I didn’t want shame to be such a big part of my motherhood, and I got this idea that, in meeting with other mothers, I would learn to accept this imperfect motherhood of mine. So I started this project, and I’m so happy that I did, cause I really needed to learn that being a mother isn’t about being perfect – it’s about always trying to do your best, about being yourself, about growing with your child. Until my depression, I hadn’t ever raised my voice or ever(!) said no. I never did anything for myself and I never took a break – I never actually allowed myself to think that I needed a break. I thought I needed to be this perfect mother who didn’t need anything other in life than being a mother. With this project, and by talking to these women and taking their pictures, I started to feel a connection with motherhood, in a new kind of way, a feeling that we are all one big community of mothers,and we all have our different fears and strengths, and we all just try to do our very best every single day. Ireally found some strength in that.

I love the chiaroscuro look of your photos. Any tips for aspiring photographers?

Thank you so much! I’m no expert really, and I don’t know much about technical camera stuff. Everything I know is entirely self-taught. But I believe the most important thing is that you find your style, and then the technical can come later. Everybody can learn how a camera works. Find your style, stay true and it will shine through.

What do you do to relax or unwind?

I give myself permission to do so. I mean, to relax is easier said than done for me. I can go for a walk, take a yoga class or go to a coffeeshop and just do nothing but look out the window and drink my coffee –  these areall things I do to relax or unwind, but they only workfor me if I let myself take a break from my head too. Then I write all the stuff I need to do and all the things I’m worrying about down on a note, and then I put the note away. Then I’m able to let go of these things for a while, and just relax.

I love your photos of Copenhagen, it’s one of my favourite cities. Can you tell me about some of your favourite spots in the city?

I love Copenhagen too, and I grew up here so I have actually lived my whole life here so far. We use two parks a lot, especially one called Fælledparken. It’s close to our apartment and there are so many great playgrounds for the kids. We use our local area a lot, and in that way it’s actually like we aren’t living in this big city, but in a small urban community. We use our local coffee shop a lot, and we shop in the local stores, and it’s actually kind of rare that we leave our neighbourhood. We have all we need around here, and we like to support the locals. Besides, when you have two kids the age of mine, you don’t always have the energy to really go about the city – even though Copenhagen isn’t that big a city.

Can you talk about raising kids in a city, some advantages and disadvantages?

That is such a tricky subject, and it’s a subject that we’ve discussing a lot around here – especially lately. It’s expensive to live in the city, and we don’t have a lot of space, and we don’t have our own garden, and I can see how the kids are affected by living four people insuch a small apartment. Some days I dream about having more space, and to have this big garden where the children will be able to play all day – without me worrying about the danger of traffic, cars and stuff. But there is also something wonderful about living in this small apartment, close to your neighbours, and everybody knows each other, and we meet every day in the yard, and the kids know everybody – from the other kids and babies to the wise old man with his paper, and everybody knows them. That feels quite special.

Any parenting inspirations you want to share?

Oh, I don’t know. That is a difficult question to answer. We are doing what works for us, until it doesn’t work anymore, and then we try to do something new. We learned that our kids, and maybe ourselves as the adults, need structure, so we are always sit down Friday night to plan our weekend to come. I wish I could say that we were spontaneous and just took it one day at the time, but we don’t.

And in general – just listen to your gut. That is my advice to almost anything in life, I guess. But I guess my advice would be that structuring your days, at least to some extent, does seem to do a lot of good for most children. What seems obvious and natural to us grown-ups, isn’t always as obvious for children. We might even address meals, visits to the toilet et cetera hours in advance. This seems to be good for our 3-year-old. But, then again, every child is unique.

 Can you talk about what sparked your interest in sustainability and slow fashion, and how you are incorporating this into your lifestyle?

I have never been a materialistic person, but I didn’t use to give much thought to my own consumer habits.But when we got our first child Frigg, we got so many gifts, and so much stuff we didn’t need, and everything was just lying around, not being used and I just had enough. So I took a stand, and I started to read and I discovered the world of sustainability, and now it’s just the way we live, we actually don’t give it so much thought anymore, but we get a lot of pleasure, and much less stress, from living like this – eating local and organic, buying stuff because we need it or really, really want it, and not just because we can. We like to supportlocal and small companies, and they often tend to have a personal story behind them, a reason for getting into their field, a mission. That makes a lot more sense to me.

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Vancouver pop up shop AND embroidery workshop

Hi all! We’re super excited to be doing a Vancouver pop up shop at Collage Collage (3697 Main st.) from 12-4 pm on April 28! We’ll have some new stock, some old stock on sale, and we’d love to see you in person! Come on by, do some art with your littles, and buy our stuff (but only what you need). If you’ve had your eye on a specific item, you can put it on hold in advance, just email us (info@devonsdrawer.com) to make this request.   

We are also doing a super awesome embroidery workshop at Collage Collage on Wednesday May 2, 2018. You can sign up on the Collage Collage website. 

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Embroidery workshops!

Our designer Cynthia is teaching embroidery workshops in Los Angeles. Hope to see you there ❤️. You can buy tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-overunder-handwork-tea-and-community-at-office-party-tickets-43684316968

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Milk Magazine

Our FW 2018 line was mentioned in Milk Magazine’s report from Playtime New York: http://www.milkmagazine.net/on-y-etait-le-playtime-new-york/

We love Milk Magazine! 

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WGSN

our Fall 2018 line was mentioned in the WGSN trend report! See below. 

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Pirouette blog “One to Watch” award

We won the Pirouette Blog “One to Watch” award at Playtime New York! Read all about it here: https://www.iloveplaytime.com/gazette/news/pirouette-one-to-watch-at-playtime-new-york 

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Comfy yet stylish, we 💙 these overalls by @devonsdrawer Beautiful capture of Mila by Jessica Dickinson from @blakeacres. . Click to view http://bit.ly/Athomeinthemountains . . http://ift.tt/2iGsleg

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Sophie baby romper

This sweet romper is cozy and tough. Made in either stretch Japanese corduroy or denim. Dyed with low impact dyes.

This ethically produced heirloom romper were made and produced within a 2 mile radius in downtown LA. We pay our sewers a fair wage, carefully source our fabrics from fair trade and environmentally sustainable factories. See our size chart here.

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Oxford Henley

This unisex shirt is already is our favourite. Made with 100% cotton fleece, recycled hemp blend, or 100% organic cotton interlock (dotted shirt only). This ethically produced heirloom shirt was made and produced within a 2 mile radius in downtown LA. 

The fabric for this dress comes from a company in California that designs and manufactures their own fabric. It is 100% organic cotton, and dyed with non toxic dyes. The fabric is woven in a fair trade factory in India.

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Erin baby shirt

This sweet peplum top has pearl button details and goes perfectly with our Hazel baby pants. Buttons at the back and wrists. Dyed with low impact dyes. Comes in flannel or dobby (flat weave fabric with geometric pattern woven in).

This ethically produced heirloom shirt were made and produced within a 2 mile radius in downtown LA. We pay our sewers a fair wage, carefully source our fabrics from fair trade and environmentally sustainable factories. See our size chart here.

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Feature in Earnshaw's Magazine

Our designer Cynthia Bennett was recently featured in Earnshaw's Magazine, which is the premier source for children's fashion. We feel honoured! Click this link to read the feature, which is at page 38: https://issuu.com/symphonypublishing/docs/earnshaws_september_2017/6?ff=true&e=1542728/52936160 

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Pop up shop coming soon

Hi friends, do you live in Vancouver? If so come by our pop up shop at Chorus and Clouds on October 14, from 10-2 pm! See you there!  

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Ambition-new post over at Peaks and Harbours

I've got a new post over at Peaks and Harbours about female ambition, specifically mine. Short excerpt below, you can read the whole piece if you click the link in profile.

 "All my previous posts for Peaks and Harbours have been about life side of work-life balance. I was reflecting on this, and think I tend to talk more about my kids than my work partly because it’s a more relatable thing to talk about. But also, parts of my work are super boring, and it’s hard to spice up the hours I spend trying to remove all superfluous adverbs from my writing, or reading lengthy statutes.

 But, what’s missing when I just talk about my kids is that I actually really enjoy my work. I get to do interesting work, earn reasonable income, and work reasonable hours (which I guess helps me enjoy my work). I actually tried to get my husband to be the stay at home parent a while ago (no dice, he likes working too)."

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A lovely post featuring Danielle Aceino from @missverse on a Cup of Jo blog.

August wears a cord jacket from @devonsdrawer

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Fort Langley trip

We had a blast at historic Fort Langley last weekend, and to make it better because it's a national historic monument it's free all summer to celebrate Canada's 150 year anniversary.  

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A lovely post featuring Danielle Aceino from @missverse on a Cup of Jo blog.

August wears a cord jacket from @devonsdrawer