ElvenStar Clothing Designs

Kiara, founder of ElvenStar, has had a passion for creating original designs since she was a teenager. She would scrounge up her mother’s fabric scraps, collect extra fabric and old clothing from thrift stores, and recreate the pieces into a new design. After being complimented on her designs she began receiving requests to create clothing for others—and gladly did so.

After experiencing a personal allergic reaction to polyester, Kiara switched to only cotton fabrics. One day, a trip into an eco-friendly clothing store taught her what the cotton industry is doing to the earth, “I almost cried. From that point forward it has been all eco-sewing and designing for me… Your Body and Soul know the difference.” When Kiara was pregnant with her first son, she received a loan from a women’s lending society and bought her first sewing machine and ten metres of hemp fabric, “For my first large fabric purchase there were no other options in my mind... I wanted to work with hemp and organic fabrics!”

After purchasing her sewing machine, Kiara began sewing maternity and infant clothes (rightfully so!). Her design of choice became tunic style shirts because she had learned through Chinese medicine practices the importance of keeping the kidney warm and well covered for preserving chi. The tunics that she designed for infants have been worn well and passed down over many years. Kiara’s favourite feature of hemp, “What I love about hemp fabric so much is that some of these original pieces I sewed that winter are still circulating the hand me down circuit! This beautiful fabric is eco-friendly and so durable!”

In 2004, Kiara found herself living next door to Anik and Louis, the founders of Nomads Hemp Wear, and lending her washer and dryer to the Nomads to set their hand dyed fabrics. “Everytime Louis came over… I used to drool over the beautiful colours and fabric. Anik used to give me her scraps to sew baby clothes and I eventually started selling them at markets.” Soon Kiara began selling nearly everything she made, and received requests for more styles and adult sizes, eventually ordering her own fabric and dying it herself. Kiara recognized her designs’ popularity when she attended her first Vancouver Folk Fest, “The feedback was continually positive, so I kept rolling with it.”

By the time Kiara had her second child, she realized she couldn’t hand sew every garment she sold anymore. She learned about patternmaking and manufacturing and had a successful run. She is currently working on making her designs fit a greater range of body types.

Kiara’s first designs were inspired by motherhood, but she is now happy to introduce men’s designs and envisions having something for everyone in the family to wear. Her line is manufactured in Vancouver, BC, because she feels it is important to keep resources and jobs within the country as much as possible. Kiara knows her sewers personally and appreciates their work and that whenever there is a problem she can easily communicate with them to alleviate it.

Kiara’s vision for ElvenStar’s future is to have a variety of beautiful designs that are “considered classic, timeless pieces that can be worn year after year and still be in style.” She recognizes that fashion changes and styles will continue to evolve but she hopes to create a collection that caters to all people, styles, sizes, and body types. She hopes to create new styles for children and designs that appeal even to grandparents. “I feel everybody deserves to wear eco-clothing, it’s not just a trendy thing, it’s a conscious choice to support the planet at this time! Our children’s future is worth it to me!”