You could think Nicole Bridger has been given a head start on others her age, having received one-on-one mentoring from fashion industry leaders such as John Fluevog, Vivienne Westwood and Chip Wilson. Or it could click that shes known what shes doing since the very beginning.
Either way, it comes as no surprise that, at 31 (a mere 15 years after the lightbulb went off on her design aspirations), the forward-thinking Vancouver talent now not only owns the Mount Pleasant factory that manufactures her clothing, but also produces many of her competitors lines.
Fans of her designs might have met Bridger at her flagship store in Kits, and found that the petite, sweet-faced brunette with the tiny facial piercing has a way of getting to the point. But her frankness comes from a place of experience, mixed with a lingering youthful irony and a dash of idealism.
She designs for that woman: 35-45, professional, maybe has young kids a conscious person who focuses on being a good friend, a great mother, on taking time for herself and taking care of herself.
And while shes had to be all those things (which set her apart amid a sea of eager design school grads, and helped her balance her career with being a single mom to a four-year-old son), Bridger is also the sum of dogged work ethic and incredible opportunities:
In high school, John Fluevog, the father of her first love and a Vancouver shoe designer, saw her interest in fashion and brought her to New York. There, she encountered the designs of punk icon Vivienne Westwood for the first time.
She was accepted to fashion school at Ryerson, and, in 2002, enrolled in an exchange program that would take her to London, with the sole intention of interning for Westwood.
Upon arrival, she was told Westwoods studio was already full, with eight interns at work. But Bridger refused to leave London without making waves.
She went back in and asked for three days to prove herself, and went on to work with Westwood personally, on projects such as Paris Fashion Week smoking, drinking and eating pizza til 3am with her idol. It was with Westwood that Bridger learned the art of draping so prevalent in her own clothing.
Around that time, while allegedly conversing butt naked in the changing room at the Arbutus Club, lululemons Chip Wilson handed her father his business card and relayed the message for Bridger to get in touch.
She began her career with lululemon hemming. She created their first headband. Then, after graduation in 2003, she approached Wilson for advice on a business proposal. His response was, Dont start a company for them, start one for me.
She ran Oqoqo, lululemons sustainable casual line, for two years soaking up maxims such as Create a story worth telling, and 80 per cent of your products should be black.
She also learned that the key to financial success was to be vertically integrated, all the way from manufacturing to retail. And by 2007, she had finally amassed enough business knowledge, by her standards, to launch her own line.
But life deals its curveballs, and three-and-a-half years ago, Bridgers personal life suffered a blow.
Before the divorce, she was taking her son to her parents house in Kerrisdale two days a week, working in the basement and dashing up the stairs every two hours to breast feed. After, she and her son moved in with them and she continued to work out of their home.
So lets fast forward to this new factory of hers. Its actually 20 years old, and had been manufacturing her line up until October, when the owners decided to retire.
She nearly missed her chance to buy the business (it came down to within hours of another offer being accepted), but Bridger says the thought of an inexperienced new owner scared her more than the financial risk, so she threw together her own offer for Helena Trading, and went from one full-time employee to almost 20. And, in the process, not only retained all the factory staff, but the customers as well.
Quick reactions aside, the move was always Bridgers plan. The factory is known for producing technically challenging garments, and calls local labels Plum, Jacqueline Conoir, Chloe Angus, Dace and Obakki clients.
Having had a few months to settle in at her bustling new head office and enjoy the company of her growing team, shes now eyeing a second retail location, possibly in Park Royal or Gastown.
And she is already improving on the factory model increasing wages, moving towards profit sharing and benefits, and just spending time on the floor. I cant make any of these changes overnight but thats the plan within the next year, so thats pretty exciting.
On our way out, she points to the cutting table to tell me thats where Mr. Chan works. A reverent look crosses her face as she glances around her factory floor: Hes very skilled. Its a difficult trade, and I think that gets overlooked.
Bridgers SS13 collection will make its runway début at Portside for Eco Fashion Week on April 21. Given her history of involving dance, yogis and motivational speeches in her shows, it wont be what front-row types expect.
You can follow style reporter Kelsey Klassen on Twitter @kelseyklassen.
