all man things, all the time

i have SUCH man envy. when i was a little girl, i tried VERY hard to pee standing up (much to my parents dismay... they had to reign it in when i had peed all over myself at a family event) (to new readers: i have no shame). i like textures that are typically directed towards men in design - clean, fresh, sharp. i get squirmy around soft things (like fleece, and that gross weird feeling of those super soft socks that girls wear), but i love crisp cotton sheets, and the cool feeling of leather.
needless to say, when i stumbled onto kaufmann mercantile, i was in love. and when i realized it was primarily for men, i said, 'too bad gender roles! i'm coming for you and all of your manly things!' and then promptly chose all my faves.

they're beautiful. gotta catch them all.

some of my faves

hat   //   from L to R: EDC kit, waxed canvas kit, iPad stand, tote bag, pewter flask, driving gloves, knife, socks, iPad sleeve   //   weekend bag

hiotis style

i know a guy named nick. and nick helped out with the ladies learning code photoshop workshop that i took. nick thought that my co-jamie and i were the bestest photoshop students he had ever seen (he's not biased - we were pretty outright good).
and then, nick and i stayed in touch over twitter. he likely shook his head at my tweets, and i often viewed photos of his perfect kicks, and we dabbled in men's fashion criticism even.
and now, nick has developed (with his brothers) a solid foundation of a streetwear clothing line. mixing talents between all of them (which i assume includes gourmet food at their launch events - hunh nick? hint hint) they've gathered some followers starting from a small group of friends, leading to a solid base of those who want what they have to offer. 
LUCKILY (for you! but mostly for me), i have an in. nick (kind of) likes me, and was willing to do a quasi interview... 

jamie - so. a couple of questions - if you have a second! first... the administrative: who is 'hiotis', what talent and training do you guys come from, where the heck do you guys design out of? 

nick - Hiotis is a lifestyle and streetwear brand headed by myself and my younger brothers. Our backgrounds are all over the place! We are in design, international business, marketing and sales. One of us also happens to be a chef and specializes in french cuisine - This has proven to be clutch.

Though I am based out of Toronto, Hiotis definitely has a strong point in Ottawa. This is where we are from and where most of our followers happen to be located.

the beginnings of the hiotis brand

j - what first started you on your creative journey - were you an artistic child, or did it come from a want for unique things? did it start in clothing, or in another medium?

n - My medium of choice has always been Web and Mobile platforms. I'm very much a "digital" designer. Funny enough, clothing might have been one of the things I cared least about for most of my life. 

As a child I would spend whole afternoons sketching cartoon characters and action figures I owned. I loved to draw! Once I got my first computer I immediately developed an interest for Web/Graphic Design. At the age of 13 I discovered I could actually get paid to design and started freelancing for local businesses. I still remember being offered my first paid contract. It was surreal. I totally remember blowing all of that money on candy with my brothers immediately after...

tshirt designs - the basics

j - how did hiotis as a brand start?

n - Hiotis, though a very new brand, developed itself over quite a long period of time. For the longest time I had a very passive appreciation for streetwear. So passive in fact that I'm fairly sure even my closest friends had no idea I followed it. I had learned to study and appreciate it from the sidelines. And I was happy doing this for quite some time. I never really fit in with the streetwear/fashion crowd anyway (I'm really not that cool). It wasn't until recently that I decided to take a more active approach towards my appreciation for streetwear and use clothing as another medium for which I could explore and learn about. 

It's one thing to consume things you're interested in. It's another thing to produce.

I decided during the summer of 2012 that I was going to approach [Hiotis] as a side project. The goal of the project was simple: Produce a single t-shirt I could wear by the time the summer was over. The real goal of the project was, and still is, to learn more about the process of creating a real physical product from start to finish, through the medium of clothing. Though I followed streetwear, I knew absolutely nothing about the process and the steps it takes to produce something myself. By the end of the summer I had accomplished my goal. However, rather than producing 1 t-shirt I had designed 4 and produced 15 t-shirts from each design. Somewhat by accident, I had generated a lot of interest from friends. Eventually I had made the decision to sell all sixty shirts. And from that point on Hiotis as a brand, and as a business, had kicked off.

I was also incredibly fortunate enough to involve my two younger brothers in this project. 

the men in charge - sorry nick, i had to. (from nick's instagram)

It is just as much their project as it is mine at this point. Leveraging our different specialities has proven to yield amazing results. Family is everything to me and ultimately this is what makes Hiotis. 

"Brothers Over Business" isn't just a slogan we use, it is the cornerstone of what our brand represents. It is what makes us unique and truly authentic to both ourselves and our followers. 

'live fast, die you' (my fave slogan from hiotis)

j - can you give us an idea of 'a day in the life' now that you have hiotis on the go?

n - Hiotis remains, for the time being, a side project. I do work full-time for a design agency in Toronto. As such I manage all Hiotis related work in the nights I'm free! I'll admit it does get crazy sometimes, as I feel like once again I'm living two completely different lives. However I strongly believe approaching Hiotis as a side project has really benefited both myself and the people I'm collaborating with. I spend my days and nights working on creative problems for completely different mediums. Keeps things fresh! 

And really at the end of the day, there really is no goal other than to learn, have fun and creating something dope. 

I am fortunate enough to not have to worry about money so there's really no pressure on myself, or the people willing to collaborate with me, to push out anything in order to make a quick buck. Money is no object in this project. 

j - what can we expect from hiotis in the future - both near and further away?

n - I feel like Hiotis, as a business, has hit a really sweet spot. It's now completely funded on itself while also being new enough to not be under any real pressure. Hiotis is definitely the "underdog" right now. I like that! I feel like there's really nothing we can do wrong at this point, so it's worth exploring anything we feel like. The only people we need to impress at this point is ourselves.

As an immediate goal we are working to get a proper website/shop set up for October 31st. We are also currently working to release a Spring/Summer 2013 collection. Afterwards, who knows! I am very excited to see how this project continues to evolve.

hiotis tags, ready for clothes

j - what are your personal styles? how did this influence hiotis?

n - Though I can't speak for my brothers on this one, I would say my personal style is more casual professional. I'm definitely a sucker for nice sweaters, dress shirts and sperry's. Don't hate. I like to look nice when I can! My own personal style doesn't really influence Hiotis.

Hiotis is more or less influenced from our interests rather than our personal styles. Elements of skateboarding, hiphop, youth and all the other things that come with this (I'll keep it clean here!). This keeps what we push out authentic to us. Where I would say my personal style intersects with what Hiotis represents, is that I do want people to feel like they look nice! I want Hiotis to feel like a higher brand of streetwear. 

j - and finally... just because it's my blog, and i'm nosy! what is your favourite..... drink. food. place to eat in TO. fae music. and of course, fave place to go out in the city?

n - Coffee. A good steak. Guu. Hiphop. The dog park, with my french bulldog Russell. Hah!

i adore nick. he makes me laugh, and his integrity and thought process in regards to what he puts out under his name is admirable. there aren't enough people who care about the process from start to finish anymore - with DIY, pinterest, etc. sometimes we lose a lot of what makes small ventures good. the heart. the design. the creativity. the learning. and the authenticity.

you can find some of the fine hiotis men's thought process here. you can follow them on twitter here. OR follow nick here. and dudes - hiotis is going to be holding a very limited preview sale of their S/S 2013 shirts, October 31st at www.hiotis.com. do. not. miss. out.

what i wore.

anyone who knows me, knows i'm not into flashy fashion. and yet, coloured pants and patterns are all over the place.. it's becoming unavoidable. so, when i walked into h&m to buy a birthday gift the other day, and saw THESE lovely pants, i figured... why not? they're neutral, mostly black, and would give me a good step in the right direction.

so i packed them in my suitcase for an entire weekend, and had NO choice, but to wear them. and mix and match with my clothes already in my wardrobe.
and they did it. they obtained rave reviews - from friends, boy, my butt, and my calves (who are normally peeved because i wear clothes that they get lost in... they're skinny little minnies, and hard to accomodate!). and i gotta say - they managed to wiggle their way both into a fancy pants (ha!) restaurant, AND a legion style dance party avec band tshirt. so. not too shabby!

this is how i wore them

day and night by coordinatedmadness featuring distressed t-shirts

oh you fancy, hunh?

oh! and here's an added bonus. i'm a guest person of interest in natalie's blog today. here. talking about my outfit choices, and how long it takes me to pick them, as well as my shopping mecca's of choice (namely, the sweet luxurious area of the dufferin mall - according to the website, it's 'the savvy shopper's fashion destination'). you can read more here. and look at me making my gangster face, without even realizing it (yes, i literally DO make that face unintentionally all the time).

oh. and read her blog. you'll love it. she's hilarious.

thanks for having me natalie!

my version of a clothing/outfit a day (week, month?) post

so. i've never really been one for outfit posts. mostly because of the following reasons

• i don't have a good camera that makes it look more like i'm a famous photographer capturing fashion at its finest, and less like i'm a self absorbed person with a BB camera (fuck you blackberry camera)
• my clothes lack.... awesome-ness
• some mornings, especially before work, my thought process goes as follows: *snooze button; *snooze button; *snooze button; *snooze button; 'FUCK i only have 22 minutes to get to work so what's on my floor grey pants i wore 2 days ago well if i wear a long shirt no one will notice but is the long shirt work appropriate probably not but what if i put a vest over it and wear overthetop jewelry today think anyone will notice probably not'; *put on grey pants, long shirt that's totally not work appropriate, vest to make long shirt "work appropriate", and a shit ton of jewelry to cover fashion error*; get to work and try to hide all day as outfit was a huge failure.
• i forget to actually do things daily like take vitamins, and laundry... outfits photos tend to get pushed to the back of my mind. 

but when natalie from makes me smile called out to readers to submit their own outfits, i figured... what the hell? everyone in toronto wants to see what i wear on a daily basis (CLEARLY), so here's their chance. not on my blog, but on natalie's. obvs. (check my post out here!) and, she's awesome. so her blog was DEFINITELY the kind of place i wanted people to see me. in a cheap ass outfit. clearly. why you ask?:

exhibit a: she pulls together a mean outfit (and includes kick ass vintage stuff too. perf). 

exhibit b: she's classy as fuck - she works a corporate(ish) job like moi, and wears a mean pencil skirt. you gotta appreciate the little things. 

exhibit c: she lives in my hood (parkdale), and was just on apartment therapy! ahh! cool! world famous! loud noises!

if you need more reasons... well. ... shame.

so when it got to be thursday (today), and i realized i hadn't taken any photos, i started frantically searching through old photos to see if i had anything salvageable. what i found was embarrassing. so i took photos of my incredibly matchy outfit today that i grabbed with my eyes closed instead. but what i DID find was a collection of hilarity. blackberry captured pieces of outfits. and i laughed really hard. and so NONE of you can say i never shared with you, i'm sharing.

so friends... here's what you're missing out on. these sorts of fashionable gems. (and once you see these, you'll never ever ask again. but they'll make you feel REALLY good about yourself):

the majority of my wardrobe is accessories. boring clothes made SUPER COOL with little bits'o'bling. i like big earrings - joe fresh has my favourite, and lucky ME, they make them into a different colour, or with a different material every season!! i like baseball hats (and the seattle mariners), tortoise shell, and big sunglasses. i also fight with horrible vision - hence these super 'cool' teacher glasses on top of the mop of hair that i have to deal with daily. all ingredients for a recipe of hip!

this may be the largest reason why i don't take outfit photos.... i wear blundstones. a lot. to inappropriate places. they are on my feet 92% of the fall through winter. mostly with wool socks and skinny jeans - aka. the most unfashionable outfit known to humanity. however, they make me feel more badass, and less like an orthopaedic requiring grandmother (i'm more the later).

i wear lots of grey. i also wear lots of blue (navy blue, to be precise). i wear comfortable clothes, and comfortable shoes. i wear belts to make things that are boring look more interesting, and i wear tights (or nylons? what are those called?) a lot. under shorts. under skirts. with toms (i know, SUPER stylish). generally all around tight-ness.

sometimes (all the time) i paint my nails. i'm not sure why i take photos of these adventures, other than to remind myself that i like the way they looked. purple toes? would have never ever thought, except that my friend said, "jamie! don't be so boring! get a colour!". 'fine friend... what do you know', i thought. well, she knows a lot. purple toes are good. so are pink ring fingers amongst a sea of grey.

see what happens when i try to take self photos? blurry, bad haired, bathroom photos.... starring my baby sister, and my nose ring. who WOULDN'T want to see those things!? you're right. i'll start taking more.

oh. and i like stripes. a lot. my friends mock me. but you know what? they're awesome.