PROFILE
Tara St James
How do your personal values shape your business?
When I first started recognising the importance of sustainability in the fashion industry I was sourcing and producing collections in China and India. At the time organic cotton was making an appearance on the textile market and this prompted me to start researching the effects that pesticides, chemicals, water waste and cheap labour has on an industry I love. I had firsthand experience seeing the negative effects through my work with many mass market denim companies—one of the biggest polluters in the fashion world. Once I learned the information I couldn't ‘unlearn’ it, and I haven't looked back since.
The slow fashion movement means…
It’s the fashion movement of designing, creating and buying garments for quality and longevity. Slow Fashion encourages slower production schedules, fair wages, lower carbon footprints and, ideally, zero waste.
Study started, as most fashion brands do, by joining the traditional fashion calendar. This meant designing, developing and producing two to four collections per year and showing equally as frequently. Designing one year or more in advance, showing the collection to buyers six to eight months before the season; shipping Spring styles when it was still snowing outside and Fall styles when everyone just wanted popsicles and sprinklers. This was how I was taught the industry works in school, this is how I had always operated as a designer for other companies. The calendar never made sense to me, and while I continually questioned it, I never thought I could challenge it. Until one day in 2013, I just did.
Tara St James
“It’s the fashion movement of designing, creating and buying garments for quality and longevity.”
How would you describe your relationship with clothing?
I have a love/hate relationship with fashion and the industry as a whole. I love the creation and the problem solving—finding the right fabric for a design or the right design for a fabric I love, finding the right way to cut and sew that fabric, figuring out the least amount of waste when cutting a pattern. Perhaps most designers don't see these problems as potential equations, but that's just how my brain works.
I hate how much clothing has already been made, how many resources we've wasted. If I were to truly create a sustainable collection it would be nothing at all, no new clothing and no new products, because we just don't need more. But that's not my reality, and what would I do with myself every day if that were to happen?
How have your attitudes toward fashion changed as you've aged?
I'm ashamed to admit I used to think fashion was disposable. I was a victim of trends and I loved getting really cheap fashionable items. I also had the benefit (or maybe downfall) of travelling to Hong Kong four times a year for work, where I was exposed to massive quantities of easily accessible knockoffs and trendy items. After my ‘rebirth’ I imposed a self-inflicted rehab and began buying less, or vintage when I could, and then those values started trickling into my work life.
What is your personal uniform?
I have such a large collection of Breton stripes (like Coco and Jean Paul), I could wear a different piece every day for two weeks without repeating. I usually wear these with wide leg or vintage men’s trousers. And of course oversized jumpsuits—my collection of vintage and Study jumpsuits fill the other two weeks of the month!
Who or what do you look to for style cues and why?
I try not to limit my inspiration to a mythical woman who may or may not wear the pieces I feel compelled to create. Instead, I ask myself whether I'd wear the style. Or my mum, she's incredibly stylish and has always been a source of inspiration and a muse. If she'd wear it—and let’s not just say she would because she loves me and wants to support me—then I know I'm on the right track.
Tara St James
"I have a love/hate relationship with fashion and the industry as a whole. I love the creation and the problem solving—finding the right fabric for a design, or the right design for a fabric I love; finding the right way to cut and sew that fabric, figuring out the least amount of waste when cutting a pattern. Perhaps most designers don't see these problems as potential equations, but that's just how my brain works."
Is there a garment that has had a special place in your life or is linked to a treasured moment?
I still own a pair of 80s high-waisted ‘mom jeans’ that an artist friend of my mother's customised for me by painting Mickey and Minnie Mouse on the legs. I was twelve or thirteen at the time. He was the first real live artist I’d ever met and I was in awe that he could paint and create clothing as a unified concept. It was my first exposure to fashion as art. Sadly he died of AIDS shortly thereafter, when I was still too young to understand the scope of that epidemic. I won't ever get rid of those jeans, even if I have a little trouble buttoning them now.
What tends to keep you up at night?
So many things! I would love to say I have a solid work/life balance, but I don't; I work way too much and beat myself up when I'm not as productive as I think I should be. I still worry that I'm producing too much product even though I've scaled back as much as I can. I call it ‘fashion guilt’—I suppose it's not the worst fashion-related emotion to have, but I wish I didn't have to suffer from it at all. I'd have a lot more room in my brain if I didn't.
Who has impacted your life the most and how so?
Is it terribly clichéd to say my mother again? Even if it is, that's who I'm going with. My mother is a successful entrepreneur and single mother who was always available for her family and always encouraged me to follow my dreams, no matter how challenging or ridiculous they seemed.
What does the outfit in your portrait mean to you?
This photo reminds me how much I look like my mother, which I think is a great thing. Whenever people ask me if I design for a muse or with a type of customer in mind, the only person I mention is my mother, who has always been an inspiration. If she approves of my work by wearing it, then I'm confident to put it out in the world (although sometimes I think she may be a little biased). This dress is one of the pieces she wears often and I usually just borrow it from her closet when I go home for a visit.
Photography Stephanie Lou
Assisted by Damien Thiberge
Styling Elisabeth Labelle
HMUA Sarah Ladouceur
Designer Tara St James, Study NY
Thanks to Studio Giovanelli
