Today was one of the most fun outings I’ve gone on for a long time! I was taken to The Namesake to customize a leather jacket. First of all – anyone who knows me knows that the leather jacket is really my signature piece. Some people are scarf people, some are sneakerheads, some people love the hoodie, some are super fashion oriented and go with the fashion flow. Me – I’m a leather jacket girls through and through. It’s rare for me to see a black leather biker jacket and not drool! So you can imagine how I reacted (jumped up and down inside) when Gianna (my Creative Director) mentioned to me that her friend had a company that makes custom leathers!
I was intrigued – I love love love leather jackets. I also love to support local talent.
To be honest, I was a touch apprehensive since I’m not a designer! I know what I like, but I usually leave the designing to the designers. I didn’t know how much visual imagination would be necessary for this process. Well – no need to worry as there were 2 racks of sample jackets to try on to help the indecisive decide! Or the addict narrow down…
I was greeted by super cute and smiley Rosa Halpern – the owner/designer of The Namesake and Raffa – her studio dog. Rosa is the local talent! (sorry Raffa – you may be talented too) We clicked instantly – her energy was warm and inviting but not at all pushy or overbearing. She had a great sense for what I was looking for.
I asked her a bit about her fashion background – she went to the Art Institute in Chicago and then worked in fashion in NYC. When Rosa came back to Toronto, she said that she came into this business almost by accident. A friend asked her to make a custom leather jacket for her and she immediately had about six more friends in line. The rest, as they say, is history!
The company is called Namesake – as Rosa, herself is named after both Rosa Parks and Luxemburg. Each one of her styles is also named after some strong cool woman from history. I ordered the ‘Yoko’ and the ‘Maud’ (named after the first woman tattoo artist – COOL!!!!!)
She took me over to the racks of jackets – summer weight, winter, embellished with studs, fringes, fur … swoon!!
The process was so easy – she described the various different styles, I tried on the samples that I gravitated towards and we quickly were able to narrow down the selection to 2 – one that I had planned on ordering (a winter weight one to fill an actual wardrobe hole) and an amazing impulse basic black slightly cropped biker number with a fuschia lining.
Luckily I happened to be her sample size, but no worries she has canvas samples of all the sizes (0-24) in her shop so you can really make a decision based on what fits for you. This is truly an all inclusive experience.
Then the fast customization – we picked a size, added a little bit here, took out a little bit there and voila!!
So so excited!! Can’t wait for my goods!!!!