On a golden fall day not too long ago, I got be the lucky lady to model Hermit & Anemone’s newest silk scarf creations: a gorgeous collection of prints and colours just asking to be blown in a fresh Spring breeze.
The two lovely ladies behind Hermit & Anemone are Jordanna Leah and Tehya MacKenzie, designer and photographer, respectively. While it may seem from the seamlessness of their work that the two have been a creative duo for some time, they had actually only discussed the concept of designing scarves the day before Tehya was out the door to live abroad – and still decided to launch their brand from separate continents and time zones anyways. Difficult? Undoubtedly.
While it was a journey of back-and-forths during that time, and a journey of figuring out what worked and what didn’t – from the colours, to scarf production, to finding a Canadian printer – the two finally are now settled into Vancouver and have been busy with preparing this latest collection, which is a dreamy mix of inky blues, deep corals, and rainy-day greys.
Jordanna and Tehya both are firm believers in the eco-fashion movement, and are continually looking for ways to localize each step of their production. How do they decide which prints and colours to use? What is their design process? Are they unanimous when it comes to final production? According to them, it’s a fairly smooth procedure: Tehya gets inspired in nature and snaps away (the Tavira scarf has a print of an intertwined beach rope), and then the two sit and decide on colour schemes and favourite concepts. While most designs are unanimously agreed upon, they do get the odd print that brings some contention: bees, for example. Hermit & Anemone’s last collection contained a gorgeous bee-print scarf, the Andrena, that almost didn’t make the cut: but they gave it a go, and now it’s one of their favourites.
Given the timeless beauty of their scarves already and the classic aesthetic of their brand, it will be really exciting to see what Hermit & Anemone come up with next. If you want to get into contact with these ladies or purchase a scarf, you can find them through the info below.
Website:
https://hermit-anemone.com/pages/about-us
Photographs by: Tehya MacKenzie
