by Felicia Greekas

The end of 2007 is fast approaching where people get ready for the holidays filled with traditions and family.  Everyone starts to take time out to spend with family and friends and enjoy some down time, after the fast-paced weeks of Christmas shopping and crazy malls are complete. By the end of the year, we begin to reflect on how the year has been significant, what has changed and the growth and achievements accomplished.

This year is a defining year for Suzette Soloman, owner of Gwaii Urban Wear, a fashion design company in its first year of operations. In starting her business, she has received tremendous support through family and friends. She tells me, “They are always asking me what they can do to help. I have a lot of support”.

Suzette has always lived her passion right from receiving her first sewing machine at 8 years old.  She started with sewing small crafts and doll clothes, following in the footsteps of her mother who is also a seamstress, where much of her inspiration comes from. Attentively watching her uncles carve for hours, she gained knowledge and concepts of carving, completing her first argillite carving by 9. Her creative spark was ignited and she now integrates Haida design techniques and uses the traditions of her creative family that is filled with artists.

Suzette has the education to back her passion. She started in grade 11 in a Fashion Merchandising Program where she realized this was to be her career. Eventually, she attended Kwantlen University College, earning her Bachelors Degree in Fashion Design & Technology and a certificate in Marketing. During the second year of her degree, Suzette created a piece for the Green Millennium Show – a show for students to take old pieces and use the fabric to create new garments. While creating her piece, she added a native flare, telling me with some surprise, “People wanted to buy it!” She realized then she could do this for life.

Completing her education Suzette was ready to open her business. She turned to TACC as her first resource, who she had heard about through her sister. From there she learned about ABC and other programs that have helped her with her business. Suzette was originally set on the idea of a store front and realized it was important to start building her name before taking it to the next step.

Now, she has opened her own business, Gwaii Urban Wear, creating the beautiful pieces she loves with a subtle Aboriginal flare. She is now creating her line for Fall/Winter 08 targeting women 21-35 years old who are fashion conscious. Her pieces range in price from $30 to $150. She is using 5 designs: the sun, eagle feather, eagle, orca and frog with 15 pieces in her first line of casual contemporary items. “Transforming the idea from paper to pieces and seeing the end result is my favourite part” she says with great enthusiasm, “Especially having the pieces come out better then envisioned”. She is concentrating on her line but leaves room for custom pieces when she has time.

Her energy and passion are evident in speaking with her about her business. She knows what she wants and is not letting anything stop her. When asked about advice for other young entrepreneurs, she tells me “If you feel scared or overwhelmed, take that as a positive. It’s supposed to feel that way, it’s apart of the process,” knowing herself that she has learned through that fear. “Follow your dreams and never say never,” as she now has her dreams made reality by doing what she wanted and not giving up on it.

There are some challenges Suzette has overcome such as the design process and figuring out a corresponding design to compliment the pieces. She wants to ensure the creation of pieces stay within the costs of what the target market can pay. If at first it takes too long, she uses a different way to ensure the pieces are affordable, saying she has learned through trial and error.

This year has been a huge learning process with her new venture. “I would like good feedback that will help inspire and broaden my creativity and goals for the future”. She does well for herself, enjoying the process and learning from her mistakes. “Last December I set a goal to have my business set up by the end of this year.” And look how far she’s come. She is currently doing a photo shoot to create a catalogue for the new year.

2008 looks promising for Gwaii Urban Wear. The first line of clothing is beautiful and her passion and creativity are strong. She works in a dynamic industry where each season comes new fabrics and styles that she happily embraces stating, “I love what I do, it’s always changing”. Suzette is definitely up for the challenge.