this past weekend was easily one of the biggest highlights of this summer, and a huge thank you goes to the team at kit & ace for making it all happen. a shroud of secrecy surrounded the original e-mails but the deal was that we get to spend a weekend in vancouver. so… a no brainer. even sleuthing on randa’s part didn’t produce many clues. very intriguing. summer has been flying by, and before we knew it, it was time to hop on the plane.
we arrived at the beautiful loden hotel in the heart of vancouver’s downtown, marvelled at the unmistakably perfect selfie light in the room and unpacked our welcome gifts, still not being told a thing. shopping was of course one of the first items on the agenda as the schedule had a couple of free hours until everyone else’s arrival. we got to the lobby (dressed for a party) to meet some familiar faces and get acquainted with new ones. alyssa (ordinary people) and the girls from kastor & pollux, who we finally got to meet in person, were our fellow canucks, while laura (on the racks), krystal (this time tomorrow), oksana (wear see snap), andy (andy heart) & jennie (margo & me) came to visit from the neighboring usa.
the theme of the weekend, was creating conversations. from the conversations that we had at breakfast, to those at the launch of the kit & ace online store to our supper club at the kit & ace studio in gastown, the air was that of camaraderie. i can’t even begin to explain how amazing it was to be surrounded by like minded people, girls who are trying to tread through the world of blogging and are figuring everything out for the first time. more amazing, even, is the fact we all come from so many different places but the challenges are still the same.
visiting the beautiful modular space that has become the kit & ace studio and pop-up was an honour, participating in design meetings and getting a behind the scenes look into the world of technical cashmere, a real treat. a weekend full of activities followed, including a bike tour of the beautiful stanley park and a visit to granville island.
dinner of note was definitely that prepared for us by the chef of a local favourite, farmer’s apprentice. david gunawan turned the kit & ace alterations space into his kitchen for the night. the full five course meal of amazing west coast staples featured the most delicious halibut i have ever tasted, in tomato and cumin broth. it would be a lie to say we didn’t also enjoy the amazing organic wines hand picked by the chef, accompanying every course. to our surprise phones were off limits for the night, and the focus was on face to face communication, which, as any blogger will tell you, is a line that gets blurred often. we thoroughly enjoyed the discussions started with the ‘real talk’ question cards created by the design team. a must for those who love to entertain (also available at the store).
all this, was not, however, an accident. we were there for a reason and hand selected to be part of something bigger. come november (and earlier in some cases) each of our respective cities will be welcoming their very own kit & ace design studio and pop-up. the plan is to continue the conversations we started in vancouver and carry them across the continent (and eventually the world). in all this, the softest and smoothest basics. starting with t-shirts and moving into full apparel coming fall, integrity and transparency is a key element at the core of the brand. engagement from the creative class is the way kit & ace hopes to get involved in our local communities. personally we can’t wait to use some of those real talk cards right here at home. for now, a look at our weekend with kit & ace:
xoxo
This post is sooo good Ania! Love the idea of having a no phones rule at dinner; it always feels strange to throw common good manners out the door to do a blogger’s job. The photos are beautiful, as are you (what else is new! Haha!).
xo Anneke