How did House of spy start off?

Originally I had a partner, we were both in school and we started doing fashion shows, to which we got a great response. We were head strong and decided to start our own line immediately and not bother with working for anybody, or graduating for that matter--I've got one credit left! Things went sour with the partner but I decided to do it on my own anyways and so it started January 2000.

What has been the greatest challenge so far?

Doing it alone. Before there was always someone there to bounce ideas off of, shared responsibility, encouragement, but doing it alone is tough! I am solely responsible for every detail of House of Spy from pattern drafting, sample making, sales, production and trying to run a business on little business knowledge. It leaves you almost no time to design and when you have it you're too stressed/distracted to be creative.

What is the style of your designs?

A broad term would be streetwear. Many people tell me my designs are distinctly "House of Spy". I tend to do a lot of interesting seaming, pocket placement, mixing of fabrics and textures. I take a lot of inspiration from Asian designers cuz they're so damn inventive, so I guess I have a slight Asian feel to it. My girls clothes are sexy/cute but never boring. My guys stuff I've only recently started (1 season) so it's harder to say, but definitely funky without being too over the top.

As a designer, what do you think of the whole Internet phenomena?

I think the internet is great. My website has garnered me tons of attention from store owners to web surfers. It allows me to reach a far greater audience than I would have ever imagined and allows me to source other cool sites like yours!

what are your aims for the future of house of spy?

I plan to expand more across Canada, penetrate the US market and I would love to add some stores in the urban centers in Europe and Asian. That's a little more difficult though cuz I don't know who and where they are!

Who do you consider are some of the designers in the industry?

have a few favorites for sure, Prada of course, they are so on the ball, W< have crazy designs and a lot of Japanese designers just make me think "wow, where did they come up with the idea for that!"

What would you advise people who want to go into designing?

Go to school or get some experience before jumping in. Realize that it's not all glamourous, there's a lot of hard work involved if you're small and don't have tons of cash to pay people to do everything for you. You need LOTS of confidence in yourself and your designs and a tireless work ethic cuz you will be married to the company. There's tons of perks though, like seeing people where your clothes for the first time, sincere compliments about your clothes, your first window display, special invite parties and the satisfaction of being your own boss!