The October Roundup Welcome to Pier Five monthly round ups, a look back at some of the people, brands & things that caught our eye this month that we thought you should know about. Ruru Baked x Adidas Canada To celebrate Adidas’ Confirmed app launch in Canada, Toronto-based small batch custard ice cream maker Ruru Baked partnered with Adidas to create an exclusive new flavour. If you know Ruru Baked, you know their flavours are unique & delicious and the Adidas Confirmed flavour sounds just as amazing. White chocolate ice cream coloured with butterfly pea powder, lemon thyme cake and lemon glaze. Our mouths are watering! Jordan Brand Joins Makeway If you haven’t heard of Makeway, then listen close! Makeway is Canada’s first standalone sneaker boutique by women, for women. They’ve created a space for women to connect, celebrate & build community through sneaker & streetwear culture, and this month, they made a huge announcement with the launch of Jordan Brand at the shop. To celebrate the launch, Makeway re-released the Jordan 1 Low Shattered Backboards and had a live raffle party with their community; the right way to sell sneakers. Congratulations to the Makeway team! Ostrya FW21 Launch Founded in 2019, Ostrya handcrafts high-performance technical outerwear designed for protection, looking good and comfort. The Montreal-based outdoor brand specializes in sustainably sourced garments that combine materials with the latest innovations in the outdoor industry. This month, Ostrya launched their Fall/Winter ‘21 collection which consisted of earth-toned down-filled parkas, water-resistant rain jackets, warm fleece pullovers & sustainably sourced duck canvas pants. Their collection is no joke and we think they’ve found the formula for combining technical features with minimalist styling that can weather all elements. Check out the full collection on their website here . Hotpot Variety’s New Site We all know bucket hats have been a huge vibe lately. Now, imagine the classic bucket style we love done in colourful hand-crocheted knits! Toronto-based creative Jessica Prapp is doing just that under her newly launched brand, Hotpot Variety. A brand new site - which hosts a very cool design matching the vibe of the hats - opened this month to make it easier for all of you to view her creations and add them to your headwear collection. Our favourite colourways are the “ Snakey Snake ” & the “ Sour Patched ”. Go check out her online store and cop a hat before they’re gone. Vincent Tsang x The Letter Bet Multi-disciplinary artist and designer Vincent Tsang releases his first reproduction of his handmade ceramics with Montreal art gallery & boutique Letter Bet. Together they produced one of Vincent’s signature characters into a sculpture form; made with a sandstone and resin mixture to create a rough texture to the eye yet a smooth texture to the touch. These will look awesome on anyone's coffee table, or even as a book weight so make sure to act fast as they’ve only made 50 pieces and news of a restock after they’re gone is uncertain. Cop yours before they sell out on the Letter Bet's online store here . Stay tuned to The Roundup series to discover the coolest new people, brands and releases each month and keep it locked to all of Pier Five for stories and interviews with our favourite designers, entrepreneurs, creators and more.

The August Roundup Welcome to Pier Five monthly round ups, a look back at some of the people, brands & things that caught our eye this month that we thought you should know about. norda™ 001 x Ciele “Cooper Hawk” Our friends at norda just don’t stop working and have made it back on our list again. This time collaborating with another iconic Montreal based running gear brand, Ciele Athletics, on the norda 001 Cooper’s Hawk Edition. This collaboration marks Ciele’s first ever footwear collab and it makes total sense to do it with a like-minded brand like norda. The shoe combines the technology of the world’s first seamless, lightest, trail running shoe in the norda 001s with a new colourway featuring a yellow Vibram midsole that is inspired by the fast & skillful Cooper’s Hawk known for its bright yellow talons. Fun fact, this is the first time that Vibram has ever allowed any brand to do a yellow midsole as the company had concerns about it hiding the yellow Vibram logo. I guess norda and Ciele just have their way! The shoe is available now on both norda & Ciele’s websites as well as your local running shops. Raised By Wolves for ntwrk’s Open House With over a decade of experience in creating high quality, Canadian made, pieces & collections, Ottawa based streetwear brand Raised By Wolves have caught our attention with their latest drop of home goods exclusively for ntwrk’s Open House series. The drop featured their highly sought after Souvenir Wolf Rug along with a new take on their “Fuck Off” door mat designed by Luke Norrad , a throw blanket, ash tray and dish. If you missed this drop, fear not, as the brand’s Fall/Winter 21 collection will surely include more great pieces. Make sure to follow them @raisebywolves to not miss out! DONDA Need we say more? Kanye West’s tenth studio album titled “DONDA” (whether he intended for it to or not) dropped on the last weekend of August. We’re sure you all know about it already - how could you not after the prolonged release teasers and live listening shows - but this album has lived up to the hype so far and we’ve been playing it on repeat nonstop. The album has a total of 27 tracks with loads of big features on there like Jay-Z, Travis Scott, The Weeknd, Kid Cudi & much more. If you haven’t given it a listen yet, you can check DONDA out on all streaming platforms. Kith x Wilson Tennis After the opening of the beautiful Kith & Wilson Sports public tennis court in Queens, NY, Kith & Wilson gave us a sneak peek of their partnership with a limited-edition collection of tennis inspired hard goods that made waves across the sporting & streetwear universe. The initial rollout features the Wilson Pro Staff and Ultra racquets along with other pieces of tennis equipment including tennis balls, racquet dampeners & a racquet stencil, all given the Kith facelift of clean logos & design. With Ronnie Fieg & Kith’s incredible storytelling & vision paired with the rich archive & history of Wilson Tennis’ products, we are very excited to see the rest of this collaboration. The initial collection dropped August 30th; some items are still available on Kith’s website , but act quick as they probably won’t be available for long. Off The Hook x Art by J Arthur To celebrate the return of Montreal’s Mural Festival, Off the Hook reached out to local artists to reimagine their retail space with installations through their artistic lens. For the final installation they tapped into J Arthur , an up & coming young artist who is known for his unique thought provoking character drawings. Titled “Peace Out”, he created a 2 storey mural of one of his characters holding up a peace sign on the front of the store that represents his honest feelings towards how he is slowly recovering from the pandemic and moving out of the box at his own pace. The meaning is really relevant to all and we love the thought he put into this project. To commemorate this mural, OTH has also released a limited t-shirt run featuring the peace out character which is still available on their website . Stay tuned to The Roundup series to discover the coolest new people, brands and releases each month and keep it locked to all of Pier Five for stories and interviews with our favourite designers, entrepreneurs, creators and more.

A Conversation With Carlos Ortiz of 8Point5 Agency After sixteen months of on and off closures, the world of retail is beginning to get back on its feet. Doors are reopening, production is getting back to normal and business may soon be back to where it once was. We spoke with Carlos Ortiz, founder of lifestyle sales agency 8Point5 and veteran in the streetwear scene, about his last year, how the business has changed, what he's optimistic about, advice he'd give to new brands looking to get their foot in the door with retailers and of course, his go-to food spots in the city. @los_ortiz Hey Carlos! For those that may not be familiar with you, tell us a little about yourself. My name is Carlos Ortiz and I’m the founder of lifestyle sales and strategy agency 8point5. I got my start about ten years ago when I helped open and manage the first Livestock shop. After that, I started working for a distribution company that was run by the owner and helped open the Toronto office, managing brand accounts like The Hundreds, BBC, Alife and G Shock. In 2019, I decided to go out on my own which is when I started 8point5. The name was taken from my shoe size. Luckily the guys I worked with before were encouraging and supportive of me taking some of the brands I had worked with previously and now I have G-Shock, Taikan, Jason Markk, Rizzoli Books, Baxter of California, Clae Footwear, House of Blanks and Toyo Street on my roster. We help these brands gain exposure in east coast Canada and get into a ton of the top boutiques and stores. Really cool stuff! What would you say are the biggest differences being on your own now versus working for a larger company? Great question! The biggest thing for me is that I have way more freedom now to work how I want and with the brands that I want. I also have a really great work-life balance now that I’m on my own which has helped a ton with my mental health, especially in the last year and a half. I've been able to get outside way more which I love and have gotten a better outlook on the city. I will say though that it’s not always so easy being on your own. The ups feel great because I know they were all mine but the downs are tough when you don’t have a team behind you. It’s just a different game now. That makes a lot of sense. Speaking of the last year and a half, what was it like for you and the business? Man, I won’t lie, this last year was tough. There were a ton of manufacturing pauses which were difficult because in this business, you get paid when products ship. So, if nothing is shipping and you can’t complete orders, that really hurts on the revenue side. I also lost a couple brands during the pandemic simply because they couldn’t operate. Everything in terms of operations and strategy really changed. I wasn’t able to rent showroom spaces and have people come through anymore so like many others, it was a lot of Zoom calls but that just isn’t the same because people need to feel the product to truly understand it. So that was hard. On the bright side, I grew a lot and many of my strategies have developed. I’m now more particular about the brands I work with and stay away from seasonal brands which means I can focus on “at-once” brands that can always ship and help me grow when I need to. I’ve also built my network and started helping other retailers develop their e-commerce and digital businesses which has helped them as well as me. If the stores are operating better, it drives more business for me and my brands. As hard as it all was, I think the pandemic brought out the good in everyone and brought the community together. It’s interesting to hear how your perspective has changed. In addition to focusing on at-once brands, how else does 8point5 choose which brands to take on now? Portfolio Alignment: For me it’s important to ensure that all of the brands we carry can sit together so that shops can get multiple brands from us. It helps them and helps us. High & Low: Another thing we look at is if the brand can work in both high and low tier retailers. For example, Jason Markk is carried at Harry rosen which is a top luxury store for men, but it’s also in streetwear boutiques and even at the Nike store. Not Too Niche: Sometimes this is tough but I need to take on brands that are generally loved by many so that I can sell them into a lot of doors. I love some really cool Japanese brands but there’s only maybe 1 or 2 shops in the city I could sell them too so unfortunately it’s just not smart to work with them. Product Diversity: Diversity of brands is very important. My roster has footwear, books, bags, watches, cleaners and grooming products. I want 8point5 to encompass the entirety of men’s lifestyle and this also helps me stay away from seasonal products like apparel which faces greater risk due to manufacturing delays but also usually goes on sale so is harder to sell. Ethical or Sustainable Practices: Lastly, I’m very focused on trying to work with brands that have a focus on sustainable production and practices. Not every brand that I work with has this but it’s a bit plus for me as I expand the roster. Over the last few years, we’ve seen brands put more focus into their direct-to-consumer (DTC) channels and reduce the number of wholesaler doors they’re carried in. Why do you think this is and do you think retailers are still as important for brands as they were 5 or 10 years ago? Well, I mean, there’s way more money in DTC. That’s just the truth. We see brands like Nike pull out of shops every month basically BUT, I don’t think stores are going away. They’ll always be important for giving the brand more of a story. You need stores to create that in person product experience. Some brands can do this on their own but many can’t and it’s not the same with only online. Even Nike that has a massic e-comm business and their own stores still leverages boutiques for big promos like Air Max Day. I think that says something about the need for shops. We may get fewer shops but we’ll always have them. We definitely agree with that. It’s hard to imagine a world without our favourite sneaker shops and clothing boutiques. What tips would you give to a newer brand looking to get into retailers for the first time? The first thing any brand needs to do is build up their DTC channels. I know this sounds counterintuitive but retails want to feel like there’s a partnership and not just that you need them to succeed. Secondly, identify stores that have similar brands and styles. It has to feel like a natural fit. Once you identify the shops you want to be in, work on building relationships with people there. The world of retail is a tight knit community. Solidify your product offering and brand strategy. If you’re successful with growing your DTC to start, you’ll likely have this. You’ll need to convince the stores that you are the best choice to sit on their shelves so a great product and brand strategy is key. Lastly, a sales and distribution agency can be very helpful. They often have the best relationships with stores and can be very influential as a promoter of your brand. They’ll also help manage product orders and logistics which isn’t always easy for new brands. Love that! We agree, it’s definitely important to have a strong multi-channel approach. Before we let you go, we’re going to switch gears for a second. It seems like in the last year you’ve been all over the Toronto food scene. What are your top 5 spots in the city for anyone in or visiting Toronto this summer? [Laughs] Yes! I think I’ve tried a new spot almost every single week for the last year and a half when we were able to. I was really looking to support as many small and local businesses as possible and I love spreading the word about them to others. The following places are all great and, even more importantly, have amazing staff. That’s key for me. Mattachionni : An amazing pizza spot with 2 locations. 416 Snack Bar : Great drinks and quick bites. Grandma Loves You : Some of the best sandwiches in the city. Pho Tien Thanh : Great Vietnamese food. I always get the bun dish #59 w/ extra meat. Ruru Baked : Awesome ice cream and such a nice team. Check out Carlos and 8Point5 Agency on Instagram and keep it locked to Pier Five for more interviews and stories with the coolest designers, artists, activists, entrepreneurs and more.

A Conversation With Tara Miller of Health Hut Tara Miller is a Certified Nutritionist, Intuitive Eating Counsellor and Diet Recovery Coach, as well as an advocate of the Anti-Diet movement. Through her experiences in nutrition and healthy living, she founded Health Hut, one of Toronto's premier destinations for the best health and wellness products. Tara has taken a kinder approach towards promoting health, emphasizing the importance of pleasure, flexibility and autonomy in your individual journey. ​ @taramariemiller // @shophealthhut A lot of people see dieting as a way to become “healthier” or more “fit” but you are an anti-diet nutritionist. What are 5 common misconceptions or things people should understand before looking at dieting as a solution? Diets don’t work. We as humans are not hardwired for restriction. Diets interfere with our innate ability to feed and care for ourselves by ignoring our inner cues and desires. When we look outside ourselves for answers on how to eat, it is not an enjoyable or sustainable practice. Restriction increases our desire for “forbidden” or “off limit” foods. It also causes that “out of control” feeling that is just a reaction to deprivation, but often deemed a moral failing or lack of willpower. Diets come at a cost to other areas of our life like mental and emotional health. Dieting won’t make you more “healthy” or fit, especially since they can not be sustained. Eating more veggies can positively contribute to health, as well engaging in movement you enjoy will help improve fitness levels. Consider the actions that are more directly related to your goals, adding in rather than taking away, and listening to your body as you go. Besides the HH Blog, what are 5 books or blogs that have great information about nutrition and healthy living that people should check out? What are 5 easy things people can do at home to help with their mental health and wellness? Get to know yourself. Ask questions and get curious - what do you need more/less of? Replace your critical voice with a compassionate one (this gets easier with practice) Stop comparing yourself to others, embrace your uniqueness Try seeing the glass as half full Find pleasure in the mundane We of course have to ask, as a nutritionist, what are five of your favourite foods? Pizza with pineapple A leafy salad with radicchio, greens, lots of herbs tossed with a garlicky vinaigrette Cheese, crackers and olives Chocolate, banana and peanut butter smoothies Pasta (all types!)​ The story of selling products out of an old Ice Cream Hut is so fun! We know this might be tricky but can you break down, in 5 steps, how you made the big leap from Ice Cream Hut to Downtown Toronto shop? Slow and steady! We have made lots of small moves over the past ten years to get to where we are now. An AMAZING team of people Consistent hard work A supportive customer base and community Staying positive :) Small business shoutout time! What are 5 great lunch spots in Toronto that everyone should know about? Bar Isabel has a great fixed price lunch right now! Daily Dumpling Wonton Co is amazing. Their vegan dumplings are an HH staff favourite! You have to try their chilli oil, too. Barocco Nino for delicious pizza, Italian sandwiches and cannoli Sunshine Market makes great smoothies, veggie heavy wraps and sandwiches Harry Charbroiled - The Classic Jane burger is another staff fave

June Guest Picks: Music with Kishan Mistry Guest: Photographer Kishan Mistry "The playlist is motivated by the nice warm weather entering Toronto; something to throw on while going on a road trip / kicking it in the backyard. Good vibes all around!" His & Hers Internet Money ft. Don Toliver, Lil Uzi Vert & Gunna (Single - 2021) Waves of Blue Majid Jordan (Single - 2021) Down to Miami Emotional Oranges ft. Becky G (Single - 2021) The Weekend Mac Miller ft. Miguel (Single - 2015) The Thrill Wiz Khalifa (Single - 2011) Check out all of our guest picks for June here and stay tuned to Pier Five for more stories and interviews with the coolest people around.

A Conversation With Aran Raviandran of Get Fresh Company Aran Raviandran is the Creative Director and Strategist for Canadian streetwear brand Get Fresh Company. Aran is an expert in style and collaborations and has been at the frontlines of special projects with organizations like Puma, Remy Martin and The Toronto Raptors as well as the City of Toronto for the annual Caribana Block Party which brings over a million people into the city. ​ @aranvandelay // @getfreshcompany Aran great to chat again! Canada has been a melting pot for creatives and new brands lately. Who are 5 designers or brands that you're really excited about right now? So much great talent out there and I'm really feeling:​ Apply Pressure Adidem Asterisks Mr. Saturday Prescribed Shelter and Get Fresh Company (of course!) It seems like lately inspiration has been harder and harder to come by with the lockdown but where are 5 places in Toronto that you go to get inspired? ​ Honestly it’s hard to pin-point one single place, let alone 5 [laughs]. The city is so diverse and everywhere has something unique to offer from east to west. I will say any Hookah bar is a good start. I’ve done some of my best scheming’ there! ​ Even though we're not getting out much, fashion trends are definitely still coming and going? What are the trends you're really feeling these days? ​ Staying in has changed what I'm into for sure but I’ll forever love a comfortable fashion trend. No matter how fly it looks, If I don’t feel comfortable I don’t want it. We've been putting out some new sweats lately that are perfect! ​ What are 5 things that are key to building a brand in Toronto? ​ Have an end vision and don’t veer from it Only pivot when absolutely necessary - this doesn’t mean pivot on the vision, more so on how to get there. Build a strong team / network Listen to your customers, we live in a end user society. Truly love what you’re building or else it’s not going to happen. ​ Lastly, we've been seeing some unreal photoshoots from GFC and would love to know, what are 5 tips to a successful fashion photoshoot? Lint roller Give yourself more than enough time Prep your key shots ahead of time Create a pose board / vision board Have a good playlist ready to bump

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