David 'LeBicar' Bicari Where: Montreal, QC What: Visual Artist / Painter David Bicari, aka LeBicar, is a Montreal based visual artist who "works in black and white and draws flowers for a living". Lebicar has been a friend of Pier Five for over a year since meeting in Montreal last summer where a 1-hour studio visit turned into an entire day of eating, drinking, exploring art around the city and partying at the Mural Festival concert. Read more about that here . We are big fans of David's simple and playful line drawings and are excited to have his original works as a part of the grant collection. Why are you excited to be a part of the grant project? I think the grant is a great way to create opportunities for the younger generation of creatives. I am really excited to be a role model to some and any time that I can use my efforts to help empower or lift others, I am all for it. Hopefully this can help shine some light on other young artist and give them the tools they need to grow. Can you tell us about the pieces that you've made for the grant? The series I made for this project is about collaboration and giving back. You can see a big flower with a smaller one on the side. It's a little like the big and little brother relationship. I also made a design for the prints featuring Bloom, my little character, watering a plant. It's the idea of growth and giving someone the chance to evolve and live out their dreams. See All Designers Lookbook (Coming Soon) Shop (Coming Soon)

Tory Van Thompson Where: New York, NY What: Designer Tory Van Thompson, aka the workwear-master has been a household name in the world of New York designers for many years. With a decade of experience working with clothing under his belt, Tory has done a little bit of everything, from graphics to Japanese selvedge and now reworking Dickies and vintage denim to create unique silhouettes that you can't find anywhere else. We came across his work a while back and were very excited to get him involved in this project. Following up from our team jackets made last December, we knew Tory would be the perfect person to finish off the fit with his reworked 2Tone Dickies pants using the iconic 'Lincoln Green' colourway. Why are you excited to be a part of the grant project? This project is very unique and not like anything that I have been a part of before. I am excited to be able to help offer young creatives opportunities that I never had when I was coming up as a designer. It doesn't always take a lot to support others. Every bit helps and I know how much of a difference that can make for someone so I had to take advantage of the chance to be a part of this. Can you tell us about the pieces that you've made for the grant? The pairs I made for the grant are done using my original 2Tone shape which swaps out the back of the pants for a secondary colourway. I wanted to keep it simple. We used the Dickies 'Lincoln Green' colourway as the base since that's the Pier Five brand colour and matched it with a classic black to make these pants really stand out but also be subtle at the same time. You can rock these all summer long and also have them as your go-to in the fall and winter. See All Designers Lookbook (Coming Soon) Shop (Coming Soon)

Never Too Comfortable With Louis-Martin Tremblay We hear all the time that growth is imminent once you step outside of your comfort zone. This is very much the case for Montreal based product designer Louis-Martin Tremblay. By never spending too long in a comfortable place and always exploring and experimenting, Louis has created an incredibly diverse journey for himself. His past involves television, the skateboard industry, global footwear brands, his own blog and flourishing design studio and now one of the best new trail running brands in North America, all solidifying himself as a force to be reckoned with in the footwear design space. We got the opportunity to sit down with Louis to discuss his beginnings, how he approaches the design process, his new role as Head of Design norda™, tips for aspiring designers and so much more. Read the full interview below to learn more about Louis’ incredible story and make sure to check out our Introduction to norda™ story afterwards for more on this groundbreaking brand. Hey Louis! So great to be chatting. To kick things off, for those who may not be as familiar, can you tell us a little about yourself? My name is Louis-Martin Tremblay Lawrence and I am a product designer working out of Montréal, Canada. I specialize in footwear design, but have also done menswear clothing, accessories and graphic design to a certain extent along my career. I am passionate about nature and like to spend as much time surrounded by it as I can. This curiosity toward mother nature has been a constant source of inspiration and elevation as it is inexhaustible. You’ve built quite a strong portfolio of work over the years. How did you get your start in product design? When I finished high school, I wanted to be an illustrator and loved travelling. I was really into rave culture in the UK and punk and skateboarding and was travelling to experience all of this. After a short time in the cartoon space doing kids shows, I got to work with Underworld Skateboard shop back in Montreal designing for their boards and then started doing accessories/clothing design for brands. I was always very driven by the creativity of it all and being able to experiment with new styles. After some time with Underworld, someone called me up to see if I wanted to try designing skate shoes. I did it as a private label job but wasn’t learning much and felt stagnant in my illustrating. While I was doing that I started a blog called KOMFORTZONE, posting about important trends I was seeing in the footwear space. About a year in, people were referencing the blog a lot and I started getting calls from some big companies to consult. This led to a job at Aldo on the women’s shoe side which I loved. This was like a “footwear university” for me. I was learning so much. I moved to the men's side about two years later which focused on mostly dress shoes and felt less creative so I began to think about my next move. Shortly after that I left Aldo and started my own design studio Atelier LMTL . After a couple big jobs with shops like Off the Hook in Montreal and brands like Aimé Leon Dore in New York, things started to really pick up for me and new clients started coming in quickly which was amazing. I loved working with brands on different footwear designs. It gave me everything I was looking for; products, fashion, related to culture, mixed material, etc. I also love working on shoes because you can get a good sense of what they’ll look like before trying them on which you can’t see with clothing. Footwear is more architectural in that sense. Photo: Atelier LMTL Such an interesting journey! Over the last year and a bit now you’ve taken on a role as Head of Design at norda™. How did that opportunity come about? Just before the pandemic, Nick (Co-Founder, norda™) reached out to me about a project. It wasn’t norda™ but more of a client sourcing job. We started working together more and on a trip to Italy for that work, Nick told me about his idea for norda™ and I was very excited about it. About a month after that conversation, right as the pandemic was picking up, Nick reached out and said he wanted to do it for real and I was in between client work with Atelier LMTL so the timing was good and so I said yes. It’s crazy to see how that early conversation has developed now. norda™ isn’t like any other sneaker brand. What was it like working on a hyper-technical trail running shoe and what was the hardest part of designing the norda™ 001? Fortunately, I came into this project with some understanding from a consumer end and was thinking a lot about what was missing from stores. I have been running for years and as mentioned earlier, I am an outdoors person, therefore, familiar with a lot of the technologies used in the industry. This being said, nobody had achieved a seamless upper using Dyneema. Nick gathered a round table of specialists in order to figure out what was needed. With the experience of everyone it was just a matter of time and trial before something concrete would come out and the factory team played a crucial role in achieving this. My personal challenge was to balance the possibilities and the limitations while keeping the design DNA of the norda ™ 001. Always good to have a strong team to work with, especially when working with new designs and materials. From a start to finish approach, what are the steps of your design process like? I tend to keep the practice very flexible due to the reason that every client, brand or project, is unique. The design process starts with a conversation, or I should say with an open ear. Listening to their purpose, why do they exist or why do they want to exist. This leads to the research to understand the market, the scene, the culture we are talking to and what connects them to their product, the object. Afterwards, inspiring images and texts get collected to create a bank or reference. Obviously there is a period of drawing and sketching. If possible, right after I like to let go of it all for a while. This pause gives room for everything to settle down, leaving what’s needed floating atop. From there the products start to take life. Really interesting! You mentioned before the design DNA of norda™. Can you speak more on this? We were looking at how we could meet lifestyle footwear DNA with the sportswear side and achieve a good balance that doesn’t exist with a lot of the other big brands. Many big brands are heavily focused on the sportswear side with exaggerated technical details but I wanted to make something with a more vintage feel and be able to hide the tech within the lifestyle elements. We can definitely see this in the norda™ 001. Super technical but not too eccentric looking. What were some of the design inspirations for the shoe? I am often inspired by cars and was influenced by Porsche for norda™. The lines on a Porsche emit a sense of speed but it’s subtle. On the outside, everything is simple and clean but once you open the hood you see all of the tech. I wanted the norda™ 001 to be like this; able to perform but doesn’t have to look like it. In hand, the shoe is simple but once you’re wearing it, you can feel all of the technology in your step. For the outsole, which I think makes the shoe most of the time (Nike Air, Adidas Boost, etc), I wanted to bring in an organic relationship with the ground. I used the formation of the Canadian Shield, the largest and strongest pre-Cambrian rock formation on earth, to design the outsole and wrapped it up the heel which I think is a unique touch. Do you have a favourite feature on the norda™ 001? I don’t think there is one feature standing out for me. Like a painting you can appreciate the colours, the gesture or the composition, but it’s the whole that makes the experience complete. But having to choose, the outsole plate element of the Canadian Shield and its repetition on the collar as a 3M hit, I find, gives the 001 something very unique and organic. Agreed! Besides norda™, you’ve also designed on a number of very cool projects through Atelier LMTL, every one of them being quite different from the others but all, for the most part, being in the sneaker category. Are there any other categories you might like to explore with Atelier LMTL? Football cleats. I would definitely take on that challenge, especially from an outsole point of view. The cleats give a unique form and many possibilities to play with. This being said, I think menswear is on the top of the list. This category needs some attention and creativity to respond to what men need in a modern and functional way. We’d love to see what you come up with for all of it. Switching gears here a bit now. The footwear design space is one that many aspire to be a part of but it can definitely look intimidating from the outside. What tips would you give to someone who is looking to get into footwear design as a career? Get busy, stay curious. Take jobs with purpose, like learning from someone or understanding the basics of the industry. From there, move up, down, sideways, but when you become stagnant, move to keep learning and growing. Design is specific and in order to sharpen it you will need to understand all aspects of the industry like manufacturing, marketing, merchandising and many more. Understanding culture is also a key ingredient. Cultures come with a set of beliefs, unknown rules and a visual language. This last one cannot be underestimated. That is excellent advice and definitely even applicable to those not looking at the footwear space, especially in regards to the comfort zone advice. Definitely! Once you’re in different spots, you should always continue to ask questions and speak to people to learn and then the minute you feel you’ve learned something, move on. It’s also important to have checkpoints in the moment to help you understand what you’re trying to achieve, where you’re at and what the future may look like for you. Absolutely. Getting a bit more personal for the last question. What are your top 5 sneaker designs of all time, excluding norda™ and anything else you’ve worked on? Mmm, I don’t even own 5 sneakers right now [laughs]. I am with them all the time for work but I have never considered making a list or collecting them. This being said, court sneakers like the Tretorn Nylite have patterns I really like for their unique and curated look. I am also very into menswear classics like the original P204 from Padmore and Barnes. They have been some of my favourites since childhood. I also am wearing the Keen Uneek sandal a lot and will always love Clarks. I could name others, but it would be mostly on the aesthetic as I have been deceived often by either the fit, the comfort or the quality. A great list nonetheless! For more on norda™, check out our Introduction to norda™ story and make sure to follow norda™ and Atelier LMTL on Instagram for more exciting work and updates. Also, don’t forget to keep it locked to Pier Five for more interviews and stories with the coolest entrepreneurs, designers, artists, activists and more.

Browse By Tag Business Art & Design Streetwear Sneakers Wellness Activism Sports Food Photography Music All Posts Interviews Stories Guest Picks People All but last Events Jul 31 Pier Five Community Dinner: Volume 1 May 15 Pier Five x PUMA: Mental Health Strength Day - A Triumph of Community and Wellness Apr 24 Your Number One Resource With Nishal Kumar of No Days Wasted Mar 11 Playing the Game Better With Drew Stevens of Margin Skincare Feb 7 Doing It Yourself With Carol Pak of Makku Jan 9 Creating Your Identity With Jun Arnaiz of Neutria Dec 29, 2023 Pier Five’s 2023 Food Drive: Supporting Community and Fighting Food Insecurity Nov 21, 2023 Ready For Anything With Bimma Williams Nov 8, 2023 Building Your Own Spaces With Monday Girl Oct 9, 2023 Protecting Your Brand With Zak Kurtz of Sneaker Legal Sep 14, 2023 Pier Five x PUMA: Community Court Day 2023 Sep 9, 2023 Embracing Your Community With Sarah Sukumaran of Lilith NYC Aug 25, 2023 A Strong Foundation With Carlo Aragon of Salomonology Aug 11, 2023 Embracing Impermanence With Sandro Petrillo of SSSOAPS Jul 28, 2023 Doing It His Way With Rae Mendoza of ICYT Jul 15, 2023 Slow & Steady with Josh Heares of Porter James Sports Jun 21, 2023 Putting In The Hours With Jess Sanchez of Santa Isla Mar 21, 2023 A New Chapter With Jason Faustino Of Saucony Mar 8, 2023 Chasing Your Curiosity With Carolyn Chen of Dandylion Feb 16, 2023 Keeping It Authentic With Katherine Johnsen Feb 8, 2023 Easy Going With Lorenzo Brunetti Of END. Clothing Jan 26, 2023 Shaking Up An Institution With Colin Li of Hong Shing Jan 17, 2023 Loving The Journey With Adam The Illustrator Nov 27, 2022 Doing It Yourself With Glory Allan

Shop Thank you for checking out the Pier Five Creators Grant collection. All items have been generously donated by creators across Canada and the USA. Learn more about the pieces and the designer behind them by clicking on the products. All profits from this collection will go towards a financial grant that will be issued in August. Quantities are VERY limited so make sure to grab your favourite pieces quickly! To learn more about the grant initiative, click here . To view the entire lookbook, click here . Final Sale: Due to the nature of this release, please note that all purchases are final sale and cannot be returned or refunded. We don’t have any products to show here right now.

A Strong Foundation With Carlo Aragon of Salomonology If there's something that Carlo Aragon, designer and founder of social gorpcore community, Salomonology, knows, it's the importance of a strong foundation. From URL to IRL, Carlo has taken his childhood loves, from video games to sneakers to outdoors exploration, to build a base for some incredible projects that not only help people dress well, but also care for our planet at the same time. Find out how he does it in our conversation with Carlo below! Hey Carlo! The growth of Salomonolgy has been so incredible over the last few years? What's the goal with the page? To this day, we still get people who are like, "yeah, you wear Salomons, but how many hikes have you done recently?". It's like that"oh, you're wearing the band tee, but do you really listen to that band?" I really try to push the fact that a piece of clothing is meant to be worn, whether it's for its original initial technical purpose or just for casual wear. So the page is really exists to show people that there's nothing wrong with taking something that's meant for something else and just wearing it for a completely different reason. For me, an article of clothing has always been an article of clothing to be enjoyed. Why is it about gorpcore that makes it something you really care about? I want more people to be more conscious about the environment. I think with the way that the the world is projected to look in the next 10, 20 or 30 years, it's not looking great but when people go out and enjoy the outdoors, I think they start to recognize more about how lucky we are to actually have it. If people need to be into a trend for them to finally start hiking to appreciate being outdoors more, then that's awesome. I think gorpcore has really helped people get outdoors more and if Salmonology can be the doorway or that first step in getting people to use that style to be able to get outdoors more and appreciate what we have, it will make people more aware of how we need to be more protective of our world and nature in general. From a strategic standpoint, how do you approach projects longterm to keep your audiences locked in? I think people are always looking for how genuine you are in the work that you produce and how true to yourself you are with what you produce. At the end of the day, if the project stays connected to that one anchor that you started from in the beginning, what you build over time will still be meaningful. Know what your foundation is, stick with that and build off of that so that people can look back at everything that you've produced in the past and to see that you've stayed true to yourself. I think that's what people really recognize and appreciate. Makes so much sense! Lastly, as someone with a fashion brand and a knack for influencing people's style, what tips would you give to someone working on their personal style? When you're trying to find your personal style, I think it's important to focus on silhouettes and fit. That's the best way, because when that becomes your priority, you could go to the thrift store, you could go shopping at the mall, you could go anywhere, and then you could start shopping not for brands, not for labels, but for fit. When you leave the door every day looking like you're wearing the same outfit, but it's actually different clothes, that's when you've kind of achieve the personal style. In addition to that, I feel like it's also important to look back on stuff that make you happy, and then you incorporate that into stuff that interests you. Make sure to check out Salomonology and Carlo's new brand Equipe Works and keep it locked to Pier Five for more conversations with creative entrepreneurs!

A Conversation With Vinyl Art Not A Toy Edgar Nunes, know by his Instagram page Vinyl Art Not A Toy is an art collector based in Miami. As a young kid, Edgar grew a strong interest for toys, collecting legos and then transitioned to vinyl toys in the early 2000's. Over time, Edgar became enthralled with the art of contemporary artists like Kaws, DFace, Ron English & Shepard Fairey and has now amassed one of the most impressive collections of vinyl art in the USA with over 700 pieces. ​ @vinyl_artnotatoy For those newer to the space, what are five things that differentiate vinyl art from toys? ​ This is actually hard to define and everyone's definition can vary. Toys inspire art. Art inspires toys. People classify pieces based on their past, their interests and their tastes. That being said, these are some points of differentiation that often apply.​​ Quality, materials & price . Vinyl art is made from premium vinyl as opposed to plastic found in toys. Vinyl art is heavier and feels more solid and usually comes at a higher price. As children we collect toys and mature to collecting vinyl art . This is often influenced by higher prices for vinyl art. Uniqueness . Vinyl art is created by an artist. There are characters that are thought out and developed. This makes them original and unique. Toys are more simple and designed for consumption by large corporations. Production quantity. Toys are mass produced and mass distributed. Vinyl art is often produced in limited quantities. Decision by authority: That which we find in galleries and museums is usually in the art class and not a toy. This is a much more subjective point but often influenced by the above 4 points. ​ Your page heavily focuses on Kaws, one of the most popular artists when it comes to vinyl art. For those who might be less familiar with his work, what are 5 things that make Kaws such a well regarded artist. Original and Authentic Work: Kaws in the 90s began to do graffiti on the streets, which contributed to Street Art in New York and other cities such as Paris, London, Berlin and Tokyo, intervening on billboards, phone booths and bus stops with his graffiti and characters. Created his own style and brand: During that time he created a distinctive art expression, a brand with his pseudonym "KAWS" and his signature XX's as eyes in all of his works. Strategic Alliances: The projects that he had in collaboration with others artists, designers and brands was strategic in creating his own brand known as OriginalFake in Tokyo, from 2006-2013. Through OriginalFake he produced a variety of items, such as clothes, objects and vinyl art, all with the iconic graphics and characters that characterized it. He thinks big and without limitations : Taking risks with his work to include other materials and formats, such as presenting his toys as large wood and bronze figures and inflatables which are exhibited in outdoor spaces and museums around the world. He harnesses the power of social media such as Instagram which contributed greatly to his art being known worldwide. This helped attract the attention of collectors and critics, and today we see the result, a living artist, achieving major recognition a way that not even KAWS could have imagined. ​ Brands he's collaborated with: Realmad Hectic, Bounty Hunter, Kubrick, Bearbrick, MediconToy, Nigo, Bape, Neighborhoud, Blitz, Sorayama, Robert Lazzarini, Undercover, Wonderwall, Disney, Peanuts, All Right Reserved, Dior, UNIQLO, Sesame Street. Etc. ​ You seem to have a pretty substantial collection of vinyl art yourself. What are your top 5 pieces in your collection and why? ​ "Can I break this into three parts? [laughs]" ​ For most meaningful: The Rocky and Mugsy (vinyl) couple from 1994, produced by Loony Tunes, which I bought at the Warner Bros. Studio store on my first trip to NY. My first KAWS piece the “ Passing Through Companion” (Black) . I never imagined that this TOY would be the one that started this great addiction for Kaws Toys. It was a birthday present. “Boba Fett” from the KAWS Star Wars series . The level of detail achieved in the piece is amazing and it was a difficult piece to acquire due its popularity. Yoshitomo Nara. Pup Cup, 2003. and The Little Wanderer, 2003. Injection molded and rotomolded plastic. I love it because it differs in style with the whole collection of vinyl art and toys that I have. An custom 8” Dunny that I hand painted myself inspired by a trip I made to Alaska. The 5 best pieces in my collection if we talk about only Kaws are: Boba Fett Astroboy (Monochrome) Passing Though Companion (Black) Kaws Companion by Roberto Lazarrini Kaws Companion: Resting Place (Flayed) ​ The 5 best artists I have pieces for in my entire collection: Kaws Mark and Sven (Coarse) Huck Gee Jon-Paul Kaiser (Customizer and Creator) Brandt Peters and Kathie Olivas ​ ​ With the rise in popularity of vinyl art, there have been more and more counterfeit (FAKE) products coming onto the market. What are 5 things people can look for to help them find authentic vinyl art? Pay attention to the artists and galleries. The best place to get art (and release information) is from the artist themselves or galleries exhibiting them. Information Gather! If you're buying from a third party site, make sure to get: Origin and quality/condition of the toy Year of production Pictures of all angles of the toy and the packaging Weight of the piece If not brand new - Information on its use Ask for help! Contact collectors or experts in collectibles for a second opinion. Know where to buy. Acquire vinyl art directly from specialized stores or galleries that deal in the Vinyl Toys industry. Be ready to invest. If you want to have an original piece of vinyl art you have to invest a little more money. Great pieces come at a price. ​ Who are 5 up and coming artists you have your eyes on that we should also check out? ​ I cant't stop at 5. These are some artists venturing into Vinyl material and they have presented some very interesting proposals: Arkiv @arkivvilmansa (Indonesia) Danil Yad @danil_yad Matt Gondek @gondekdraws Theodoru @Theodoru Fidia @fidia Javier Calleja @javicalleja Edgar Plans @edgarplans Mike Lee @immikelee Mark Whalen @mark__Whalen (Resin not vinyl) LY @ly_painter

Playing the Game Better With Drew Stevens of Margin Skincare "You're never going to please everyone" is a phrase that set Drew Stevens, founder of the skincare brand Margin, free. In the era of amplified social judgment, and hundreds of new competitors popping up every week, it is more important now than ever to understand what you're in it for, and if that reason is guided by passion, like it is for Drew, then the only way forward is up. Backed by the creative minds of Benjamin Edgar, Chris Black, Ben Sehl (KOTN) and Sam Jayne, Drew has assembled the creative avengers to release what is currently one of the most exciting science-first, aesthetically beautiful skincare brands on the market. We spoke to Drew about his learnings as an entrepreneur, his tips for assembling a great team and how he deals with the competition; good and bad. Scroll down to read! Hey Drew, for those who aren't too familiar with you and Margin, can you tell us how it came together? Hey guys! My name is Drew Stevens and I'm the founder of Margin. I've always been really into skincare, and prior to starting Margin had the chance to spend a lot of time with with the founders of bootstrapped and venture backed businesses both inside and outside the beauty industry through my work in private equity. I was lucky enough to get to know some of the best skin scientists in the world, and in getting to know them had the chance to share (and confirm) a set of beauty industry observations that I thought left a gap serving me effectively and honouring my interest in skin.. Ultimately, Margin was launched as a way for my to offer myself and my peers a skin solution that incorporated best-in-class-ingredients, logic-driven formulations, and product design that I could be confident using and displaying in my home. The whole process started in 2020 and from there, we’ve put together a great team and had a lot of fun working on what is now Margin (which we launched in 2022). With all of the R&D and trials to get the product to be what you envisioned it to be, how do you know when it's finally right? It's really hard to figure out when it's right. I think a lot of it has to come down to me being really proud of the product. If I can stand behind it, and I really love it, and we put it out in the world and it bricks, I'm fine with that because this was me and the team's decision. I don't think I would sleep well at night if we conceded based on a product to try and make everyone happy and didn't put out what we loved the most. Realistically, you're not going to make everyone happy. If you go to a major beauty website and look at their top trending products, what you'll find is that for virtually every product in the world that's ever been released, reviews are normally distributed on both ends. You'll have 20% of people that say that they are absolutely obsessed, you'll have a bunch of people in the middle saying it's pretty good and then you'll have 20% to 30% of the audience saying "I wouldn't put this on my worst enemy", and yet it's a best selling product. At the end of the day, there is no such thing as universally loved anything, so I just try and put out what we really like and if it works, great. You have some pretty established names on your board/co-founder table. What was your process to getting in touch with them and getting them on board? From a cold calling perspective, you'd be surprised at how easy it is to get in touch with people. Social media has totally changed that over the years. If you have a tweet that bangs and somebody replies to it and they're an interesting person, boom, be in their DMs immediately. Same with Instagram and then if you're doing something interesting, offer somebody a little bit of value and something tangible they can act on. Meeting Chris the first time, I had never interacted with him, not on a social platform, nothing before. I knew who he was and I thought he'd be an interesting partner in a venture like this. It was literally me just sending him an email and saying, "This is what I do now. This is what's interesting about what I do now. This is an insight that I think I have that I think would be compelling and I'd love to know your take on it because I think of you as x, y, and z". The biggest thing though is just come to them with a good idea. I came to him with "Here's my insight about skincare and here's what I think we can do about it. Tell me I'm crazy". It wasn't just like, "hey, bro, skincare is really hot right now. Want to do something?" because that's not really actionable and that's not like a nutritious little bite for them or a hook in the water that they may find interesting. You've mastered skincare and the art of networking. What is on your list of things to master in 2024? I'm really trying to master my energy output in the most efficient way. My default is to try and move 30 footballs an inch up the field every day and then at the end of the week, I look back and the 30 footballs have only moved a few inches and that's not really that noticeable of an improvement. I think the right way to work is actually for me to run one football ten yards down the field for like a half day, run another one five yards down the field for a part of the day, and, be very focused on trying to really make progress on a few tasks in a given time period versus trying to do so many tasks at once. That's very difficult, as I'm sure many people reading can relate to this when you're running your own thing or have a side project that you're working on too. It becomes easy to feel busy and tired and feel like you spent energy, but not really have a lot to show for it. So this is what I'm trying to focus on and master in 2024. The beauty industry, like many others, has a ton of players that seem to care more about making a quick buck than an impactful product. What do you think about those types of brands? This is very true. The reason I'm doing this is because I care about products so much and I want the product to be the best it can be. I have a visceral reaction to the idea that someone would try and enter the market with a product that's trendy but potentially ineffective or harmful, but I also know that the answer isn't just for me to go around and say "hey,, that's not OK." There's a game being played, right? We're on this giant field and the way for me to make a point is to just eat their lunch, right? The way to do it is to play the game better than them. If in five years or ten years or twenty years, we've played the game better, then we will be rewarded for that and if we didn't play the game well or the game changed on us and people actually didn't care what they put on their skin then, you know what, I wasn't playing the right game and I lost. However, I can lose feeling good, right? This is my passion, but at the end of the day, I try to remember that there's an element of sports or gamesmanship to this and any other business as an entrepreneur, and just focus on what I can do to play the game better. I think that's a healthier attitude and so when I hear about competitors like that, it's like, okay, great, you're playing the game well right now. Let me see if I can't outscore you. Make sure to check out Margin and keep it locked to Pier Five for more founder interviews just like this!

Staying Curious With Patrick Stangbye Photo: Patrick Stangbye & Johannes Rummelhoff When it comes to the outdoors, there is nobody that we know more adventurous than Patrick Stangbye. Growing up in a small town in Norway, just inches away from the forest, Patrick grew up exploring the woods and the mountains and picked up snowboarding, hiking and trail running, a sport he now pursues professionally. A life outside and curiosities around product and technology led him into the fashion scene and after a number of different roles, landed Patrick the role as Brand Manager for ROA Hiking, one of the hottest brands at the moment amongst both fashion enthusiasts and hikers. We got a chance to catch up with Patrick to chat about all things sports, fashion, gear, entrepreneurship and much more. Scroll below for some of the highlights! ROA: A Hybrid Brand Oriented around the landscape. Made in the same factories as the best performance footwear. An approach to design unlike than any other. What does the Brand Manager role entail? A little bit of everything! Working with the sales team to present new collections Working with the design team on product development that strengthens the brand identity Financial planning assistance Designing campaigns with marketing Coordinating collaborations "My job is really just to make sure that the brand is always working." "I'm interested in movement. Many of my learnings are had through connecting with my friends over an activity" Buying performance gear from performance brands... "Many times fashion is moving so fast that nothing is ever tested. So, it might be that you're buying €600 trousers from a catwalk brand and the fabric is great...but it's not made to last and also nobody tested to see if that was a fabric that should be used on a trouser. But this is something you know when you buy something from a climbing brand or something related to an activity. These people needed the stuff to work for them." The convergence of performance and lifestyle... Photo: Satisfy Running On taking your fate into your own hands... "If you really want to do something, more than anything, be curious. Talk to people. Try to meet people. Try to have a conversation and be openminded. If you really want to make bags and a huge backpack brand is not going to hire you then start making your own backpacks. Buy a sewing machine and learn how to do it. Just got for it because if you believe it, I'm pretty sure you could do it." Make sure to follow Patrick on Instagram for a sneak peak into all things ROA, gear and trail running and keep it locked to Pier Five for more conversations with the coolest entrepreneurs, designers, artists, activists and more out there.

Easy Going With Lorenzo Brunetti Of END. Clothing The active world of fashion collaborations is one that can be exciting at times and overwhelming at others and as a large player in that space, Lorenzo Brunetti who is a collaborations designer at END. Clothing, is always ensuring that he's putting his best foot forward. As someone with over a decade in the fashion industry, he has learned a thing or two about what makes a project important and when it comes to collabs, he has been behind some of the most notable in the streetwear space over the last few years. We got the chance to chat with Lorenzo about his journey to becoming END.'s collabs designer, his tips for those looking to get into the space, how his style influences his work and much more. Hi Lorenzo, this conversation feels like a long time coming! For those who don't know you or what you do, can you tell us about yourself? Hey guys, glad to be chatting with you both! Well, my name is Lorenzo Brunetti and I'm a collaborations designer for the British fashion retailer END. Clothing. I work between the buyers and marketers to put together collaborations, primarily in footwear but more and more apparel. I have been with END. for nearly 4 years and have worked in the design and fashion space my whole career, since about 15 years old, working various internships and jobs at brands like Churchs, G-Star Raw and Omar Afridi. As someone on the collaborations design team, what does your day look like? The day usually starts with emails, whether that's with internal buyer or marketing teams or collaborator partners. Once emails get cleared it's a lot of time spent on creative briefs for collaborations. With product like this, we're planning around a year in advance so these days it's a lot of briefs with brands for 2024 already. How do the collabs usually come about and how do you plan for these types of projects so far in advance? A lot of brands we have longstanding relationships with since the store has carried them for so long and we've done collabs with them before so that helps to start the conversations. We're always doing our best to predict trends in the future and often lean on our buyers too for this since they are always looking into the future so that's how we might land on a new brand to collaborate with, but we will focus on brands that are carried in the store. From a design standpoint for the project, we're all about trying to cover a wide range of products and price points so that there is something for every customer. This is one of the reasons that we are expanding collaborations beyond footwear a lot more and getting more into apparel, accessories and home goods. What do you think the key to a successful collaboration is? You definitely need to be easy going and open minded. A collaboration is like a marriage between two brands. If you're not open to the other's ideas and opinions and always just pushing how you think something should be, then it will never work well. The building of the concept and storytelling is also really important from a full launch and execution standpoint. The collaboration is not just about the product itself, it's about the campaign and the creatives that tell the story and ultimately sell the shoe. We spend a lot of time making sure the concept is on point before diving into the design and that always helps through to the end. That's a great point on concept and storytelling. It feels like a lot of collaborations these days are just money grabs without a lot of thought. Yes, unfortunately a lot of brands out there, big and small, simply just collaborate to put their logos beside each other and sell it as an exclusive drop and it's easy to see when there isn't really much thought put into the other pieces of the project. Definitely not to say that's most collabs but something that we're always making sure of at END. is that we can't ever look at a project and think that it was just a logo mashup. What advice would you give to someone younger who is looking to get a job like yours? Getting your foot in the door in the fashion industry is key to eventually get into the world of collaborations. This can be done with any brand at any level - internships can be a great place to start - but just being in a space where you can start understanding how branding is done and how product comes to life will really help. Building your network is also really important. Reach out to anyone who you think is doing something interesting for a chat. Even if they don't have an opportunity for you then, you never know what meeting that extra person could open up for you in the future. Now that you're a few years in, what would you say is one of your favourite projects that you've worked on? The first was the Reebok Beatnik that we did. I think the concept was really great and it played super well into the Beatnik with the hairy suede and faux fur lining. The Beatnik was also having a big moment then so it was great to see how much people were into it. I also think we did a great job on the Diadora Grappa and Limoncello pack. The shoes were great and the photoshoot was super fun, which I think, after COVID, everyone needed. Would you say that your personal style influences your designs? Definitely. Most of the stuff I own, besides my shoes, socks and underwear, is vintage so my closet acts like my own archive in a way. I love buying old Americana like some vintage Levi's or slogan tees. It's awesome to be able to pull pieces and reference interesting stitch patterns or details that you can't find in modern day products and use them as ideas for new collabs. Makes total sense! Lastly, what's what brand you haven't worked on yet but would love to? I'd love to work on Mephisto! Concepts did an awesome job with Mephisto on that vintage-inspired Apple shoe and I'd love to do my own spin with them. We carry a ton of their product so maybe one day! Check out Lorenzo's Instagram for more behind the scenes of his projects at END. Clothing and keep it locked to Pier Five for more conversations with creative leaders just like this!

A Conversation With Jazz Alba Jazz Alba is a Toronto based graphic designer, known for his Simpsons style recreations of famous moments in pop culture and basketball. He caught the attention of many with his work covering the 2019 Toronto Raptors Championship Run and has since had his work featured by notable publishers like Complex and NiceKicks , in addition to collaborating with brands such as FootLocker and Puma. ​ @jazzalba.jpg Between a family, full time job and your work as a part-time designer, I imagine your schedule can get pretty busy. With the pressures of staying attentive and up to date on everything, what are 5 ways you stay organized and manage your time? Put everything in the calendar. This is super important for me to organize my meetings and I have a shared calendar with my family for appointments. Create a systemic way to organize folders. This one may not apply to everyone but as a graphic designer, this is really important be able to find things easily. I make sure to properly name every file and layer. Pen & Paper. It’s basic but often when I can't use my laptop, it's great to have a notepad and pen available. Tutorials. These are often overlooked but I'm always looking for ways to improve my sells and make me a more efficient worker. Take breaks. Have a breather. You need that to reset your focus to be more efficient. When I was drawing around the Raptors championship stuff, a reset every now and then was super helpful. ​ You’ve covered some of the greatest moments in sports and pop culture through your designs. What are your top 5 moments you’ve drawn and why? ​ Raptors champs team on the couch - a nod to the start of every Simpsons episode. Anything Kawhi because everyone loved it! The Last Dance - a great mix of everyone tuning in to watch the show. Bianca Andreescu Rogers Cup win. This was a huge moment for Canada! NBA x Disney bubble . I love the characters and being able to represent the current state of basketball. Who are 5 people you haven’t drawn before that you admire? Can you draw them for this interview? Hmm... The drawings would take me some time but these are some people I definitely want to draw, if not already in the works! ​ Jamal Murray (and maybe just all of Canada basketball) The whole Denver Nuggets team is dope. I’d like to draw them. 1990 Toronto Raptors - The McGrady/Vince Carter Era was the best! Toronto Raptors coaching staff - people dont see them enough but they were a big part of the win. Jack Armstrong and Matt Devlin with the tagline “Helloooo” ​​ You’ve really set yourself apart by owning the classic Simpsons style but throughout the years you experimented with many different styles. What are 5 things you’d recommend to any artist looking to establish their own style and set themselves apart? Find your niche. I picked Simpsons + Sports (mostly Raptors) or sneakers. There's a great book called Feel Like An Artist which has a quote “don't wait until you know who you are to get started”. Finding a niche can take time but just try things out. Enjoy what you do and take a break if you’re not feeling it. Keep track of every idea. Save every image. Save all your thoughts. These small ideas could generate the big picture one day. Be consistent. If you keep changing your style, no one will know what you're about. “Just keep going”. Don't worry about the hate. Just do you if you like it. ​ Lastly, your work has inspired many and we’re curious to know, who are 5 artists that you are inspired by that others should check out? Matt Groenin (obviously!) - the creator of the Simpsons Kaws - he has done a lot with the Simpsons (Kimpsons) and uses colours really well. He also does a great job merging cultures like the classic bus ads. Andy Warhol Roy Lichtenstein Alexmdc ​ Also special shoutout to my cousin Bigseph who's a dope graffiti artist