Cloaked in success

ODILE NELSON

From the outside, Nunavik’s first clothing boutique is nothing to look twice at.

Housed in a long, narrow single-storey structure, it’s like most of the older buildings in Kuujjuaq — more wallflower than belle of the ball; plain and easily overlooked.

But two weeks before Nunavik Creations’ grand opening, it’s obvious something extraordinary is happening behind the building’s drab exterior. And it’s not just a matter of the walls, which have been painted red bold, or the racks of Vickie Okpik designs, as bright and fanciful as old-fashioned candy.

As Austin Greenee, the store’s manager, explains while conducting a quick tour of Okpik’s lime-green parkas and cashmere and sealskin jackets, the store is an attempt by Makivik Corp. to develop a clothing industry in the region.

“Makivik saw a lot of opportunity in the South. People are always wearing parkas in Montreal and people were always asking Makivik employees, ‘Where did you get that amazing parka?’ So this seemed like a natural step,” she says as she steps around an unpacked box.

The store, which opened March 14, offers two main products. Okpik’s designs, a striking blend of modern style and traditional Inuit garments, are the store’s main attraction. The store also features products from individuals across Nunavik.

But the business, Greene says, is much more than Nunavik’s first clothing boutique. It’s also a regional economic and job-development opportunity.

The idea for Nunavik Creations actually began more than two years ago, when Makivik decided to use the World Wide Web to promote Nunavik products internationally.

“Makivik was really looking at the Web site first and marketing Nunavik products to the South,” she says. “The site showcases each product and people anywhere can custom-order with it. They can say, ‘I’d like that design in small, medium or large and maybe in another colour.’”

The Web site is now up and Greenee says it will definitely expand the business’s reach beyond Canadian borders.

The retail store also features a manufacturing division, which promises to generate numerous jobs in the region. In December 2002, three small sewing centres began in Inukjuak, Salluit and Kangirsuk. Each employs one quality-control manager and two local seamstresses to build Okpik’s original designs.

Once a fourth sewing centre opens in Kuujjuaq and the store hires a full-time retail clerk, Nunavik Creations will likely employ about 20 Nunavimmiut in managerial, design and sewing capacities.

For Okpik, who says she has been involved with the planning of the store since Makivik hired her in 1999, this is the most rewarding part of the project.

“I like to give my contribution to my people. I like them to see what we can do,” Okpik says. “This contributes to the general population.”

Like many of the seamstresses employed at the regional centres, Okpik, 35, has been sewing since she was a young girl. As a young mother she sewed and altered patterns for her daughter.

By 27, she was designing her own patterns. In the late 1990s she decided to pursue her passion full-time and in 1998, she graduated from LaSalle College’s design school in Montreal.

She believes the business is an excellent economic prospect for the region.

“Fur is in a lot right now and so is our style of clothing. It’s our opportunity to show Inuit clothing can be fashionable and practical,” she says. “My dream would be for us to have beautiful clothing, that our project will be running smoothly and have enough garments all the time to fill our orders, and our people will have regular employment with us to be independent there.”

Okpik knows, however, the business will have hurdles to overcome. To say it isn’t easy starting up a business north of Quebec’s 55th parallel is an understatement.

First of all, there’s the price of doing business up North — a cost that is reflected in the price of Nunavik Creations clothing. A jacket of cashmere and sealskin costs $800, and a parka, albeit a gorgeous original with fox-fur trim, costs $400.

Okpik and Greene know customers may be tempted to buy cheaper garments elsewhere when confronted with the prices. But they believe the clothing’s high quality and originality should be enough to tempt customers.

Then there’s the challenge of training experienced seamstresses on new industrial machines. Store-bought garments have to be sewn to a certain standard. But many of Nunavik Creations’ seamstresses are unfamiliar with these standards or the industrial machines used to make the garments.

Okpik says these problems are really only growing pains that should be easily overcome as the business grows.

“We’re learning as we go. We’re still in diapers when it comes to this,” Okpik says. “We’re falling and learning as we go and getting up again. But I’m sure this will work. I’m confident in this project.”