10 Questions with local designer Julie Pedersen

How did you get started in the fashion industry?
I entered a modelling competition at Portage Place put on by Panache. I was one of 10 girls chosen out of 500—a big deal for me since I grew up in a very small town outside of Winnipeg. One of my first bookings after signing with Panache was for the Guardian Angel show with clothing supplied by Holt Renfrew. This is where I discovered designer clothing and how different it made you feel wearing them and how it changed how you carried yourself. And also the fit, the fabrics, the finishings...

What inspired you to launch your line of mukluks?
After I had graduated from fashion design school in Vancouver and moved back to Winnipeg, I needed winter footwear. I went shopping only to be discouraged by the trendy-but-not-warm option, or the warm-and-ugly option. I couldn't force my foot into either! And probably over-inspired from school, I decided to apply my pattern making skills with my love of mukluks. And with little patience for beading and love of bright colours, I began dying fur and adding everything and anything else to adorn my boots.

Why did you decide to get back into clothing design?
I had always intended on doing fashion but when I started wearing the mukluks I had made, I began getting orders and it eventually consumed all of my time! And years later I am at a point where I have some great help, and now I can focus and have time to do my clothing again.

Where can we find your designs in Winnipeg and beyond?
The studio has recently relocated to Wellington Avenue have at Erin, with its own showroom off of the workspace or the “sweatshop” as I refer to it. We are open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for anyone to drop in and check it out. And I do come in on weekends by appointment. My big launch will be next March when I am hoping to show at Toronto fashion week. For the past few years, I’ve sold my muckies at the One of a Kind Shows in Toronto, New York and Vancouver.

What is your favourite part of your job?
Designing for my customers. The customer's reaction when they come to pick up their boots, for example. This particular moment is my motivation behind design. There are many favourites to my job! Walking into the studio in the morning with an idea and being able to create it that day.

What is the most challenging part of your job?
Trying to keep a healthy balance between work and home. I hold many roles in my business and the things that need to get done are endless.

What do you love about designing and owning a business in Winnipeg?
Winnipeg allows me to be able to have a great studio, to go there every day and to still love doing it years later. I used to design in Toronto with Linda Lundstrom
and although she was great and I loved designing for and with her, the fashion industry on that level can be ugly and not even remotely about the love of design.

Who would be your dream celebrity client to wear your mukluks?
I am not really celebrity-driven—I would not, however, turn away an opportunity—but I have dream customers everyday! 

What does the future hold in store for you?
I would like to grow the clothing line and am currently working on creating ways to manufacture the clothing here in Manitoba. I would continue to do the muckies and add on with accessories.Work hard. Love what you do. And take
the extra time to make it extraordinary!

Any advice for aspiring designers?
Work hard. Love what you do. And take the extra time to make it extraordinary!