by Grady Mitchell | In a bright, airy apartment just above the bustle of Commercial Drive, Mira Campbell and Kathy Hamigami create their new clothing line, Lloyd. The room is dominated by a large table, strewn with cuttings and rolls of fabric and crowned with a sewing machine. On the wall nearby a set of wooden pegs holds dozens of brightly-coloured spools of thread. Lit by bay windows and swept by an early summer breeze, the space feels comfortable and easy, much like the clothing the pair makes.
Their garments aren’t designed to cause a stir but rather get out of the way. They’re simple and minimal, centring on long, elegant fits. They come in subdued colours and in soft, natural fabrics that only grow more beautiful over time. While the majority of their designs cleave close to a tunic style, they’ve also branched into rings and bracelets made from ceramic.
“We started sewing together two years ago, but we didn’t know where it was going to end up,” Mira says of the brand’s conception (the company title comes from the surname of their close friend Theo, who you might know as the guy behind the Dunlevy Snack Bar and the one revitalizing the Ovaltine Cafe).
While Mira and Kathy collaborate on every design, from that point on their roles diverge. Kathy works full-time as an account manager at industrial design company Molo. She brings that skill set to Lloyd after hours, handling more of the business and administrative tasks. “Kathy takes care of all the things that make my brain hurt,” says Mira, who studied fashion design at Blanche MacDonald and handles most of the hands-on sewing.
So far brand and the pair behind it have remained something of a mystery. Until the recent launch of their site, their sole online presence was an artfully orchestrated Instagram showcasing dreamily detached woman draped in their clothes. It perfectly captured the quiet, composed and serene quality of their work. To learn more about Lloyd, visit their shiny new website.