Evolution, What’s in a Name

For those of you that don’t know, here’s the deal. Purplejumpsuit Apparel has been going through a transformation, and on the outside the largest part of that will be our name, Introducing the new and ever improving, Wayward Kin Apparel! The same rad, fully customizable hoodies and hand crocheted gear you’re used to, with a larger focus on locally sourced materials, diminishing our own waste output and giving back to the environment we love and rely on so much.

Everything will continue being handmade by myself, and you’ll see the same riffraff family of athletes rocking the gear, so don’t be fretting. The blog will likely be restarted in a new platform, but we’ll keep this guy kicking around for archive’s sake as well. Thank you to all our old customers, and the new ones to come, you guys are awesome and we are so excited for the new things ahead!

Cheers from all of us,

-Annie

Craft Fair Season

Ive recently settled back home after a fair amount of traveling this summer, and its time to sew for the next two months. Right after returning, I signed up for a craft fair this December, and the pressure is now on! Yippy!

I was lucky enough to grow up on this magnificent island, attending the Christmas Craft Fair nearly every year, it’s what kicked off the holidays for myself and many others, I’m now so excited to now be preparing for the other side of a booth. Hope to see some PJS friends dropping in and saying hello! So stoked on all the continued support, and orders put in as soon as I returned home, you guys put such a big smile on my face! 

-Danko

January’s lineup

Alright, so I was at home for less than two weeks in January, but still managed to put a dent in some the orders. Heres a look at what got finished up. I’m currently at work in Bella Coola until the 22nd, ( I plan to do a little write-up about this amazing area before I go home) but once I’m back it will be again into full swing sewing mode for a week, and then I’ll have a February update for y’all to check out!

 

Catching up with Orea

Recently I spoke with Orea, we had a little impromptu interview so everyone can get to know one of the newest members of the PJS family a little bit better. see what she has going on, how she spends her days and what’s planned for this winter. 

 

PJS A: Hey Orea! So all of BC has had a pretty late start to the winter season, but you’ve been up at Baldface Lodge since late november, and how is that treating you up there?

O B-D: Really Good, it definitely has been a late season! I’ve only got a  couple days in at Whitewater [Nelson BC], but being up at Baldface helps, I can get up to the ridge on my breaks and tour, plus we have plans of building a little booter out front so its been good and we just had a massive storm so now the seasons really begun!

what is it that you do at Baldface?

I’m a house keeper, but I help out wherever I can, because its like a family of staff up here. So, housekeeping, keeping the lodge tidy, setting tables, helping with dinner service & drinks, shovelling when I have a chance. There’s always shovelling haha. But mostly cleaning.

So you make it out a decent amount up there to go touring?

Yeah the girls and I try to go out every afternoon but sometimes all you want to do is take a break and watch a ski movie after your shift. We usually get out 4 or 5 times during the week.

That’s pretty sweet, a decent amount on your touring setup! and otherwise when you’re not at the lodge you’re at Whitewater, correct?

Yes, right now I don’t have a house so I have a lot of freedom, I’ve been going over to Red Mountain a lot and I plan to go do a lot of touring in Sandon this year as well. but whitewater is definitely my home base.

Where about’s is Sandon?

Sandon is just outside of New Denver, my home town. so its pretty cool, get a lot of sled skiing up there.

It is a pretty awesome landscape up there.

you’re not just a good skier, but also quite artsy, and I know in the summertime you were doing a lot of artwork. do you have many idea’s for projects while you’re up at the lodge?

Skiing and work has kept me busy so I don’t have a canvas started right now, but watching the sun rise from the Baldface lodge this morning inspired me to actually take a canvas outside and paint my daily view for everyone to see. So that’s on the go. and just wanting to do a lot of like charcoal illustrations, I  want to get back into pencil and charcoal. so, see where that goes. 

PJS has teamed up with a girl out of Victoria named Kim, she has some pretty awesome artwork we are gonna be putting on the hoodies. Do you think you’ll be inspired to add something of your own for a signature hoodie soon? 

Yeah absolutely. I really want to, like I said, start doing more pencil and illustrating. so we’ll throw some colour in there and start screen printing, it will be really fun. It’s definitely a project I want to get into.

You spent this summer in Spain! And we hung out in Portugal there for a little bit, that was a pretty fun time. Do you plan to travel more? Has that inspired you? Perhaps for any ski plans.

Yeah being in Spain has definitely inspired me. I was there for 7 months, and that two weeks spent in Portugal was pretty adventurous as well. I would like to go somewhere that’s a spanish speaking country again, just to build on what I learned while I was in Spain. But right now I have a dilemma of choosing a destination for next fall! I’m going to do a pre season ski trip, dedicated just to ski. and I don’t know my destination just yet.

Fare enough, There is a lot out there! How about competition season? Sounds like you have a lot on the go for that this year.

Yeah, comps are getting me really stoked right now; that’s kind of my main focus, I have five lined up right now. One in two weeks, just got the confirmation for a start list down in Crystal [freeride world qualifier]. So that will be beginning of february and then its kind of full on from there. one on my 21st birthday on the 21st of feb. one will be here at whitewater. In march I’m going to head over to Lake Louise and then Wrangle the Chute for my favourite comp at Kickinghorse. And then to finish it off  I’m gonna go down to Montana, to Big Sky for another freeride world qualifier.

That is pretty awesome, and very jam-packed!

Very jam-packed, and hopefully they’ll all be wins haha.

Check back on the blog to stay up to date as Orea’s season unfolds. Wishing her all the best for the coming comps! 

For more information about Baldface lodge check out their website. 

 

 

Finishing off 2013

I had a lot of fun in December on some of the hoodies, Heres a look at a few that got finished up!

Design expansion

This winter, we will be introducing two new staple styles to join our pullover and vest designs. A zip-up option will become available in the late winter, and pictured below is our Shambles hoodie, a slightly more feminine design with a deep cowl-neckline and lace-up feature which will always be changing  as we explore the options and fun this design offers, and tailor it to custom orders. A more in-depth description of the Shambles hoodie will also be posted in  February as the design becomes available for purchase.

Don’t Forget To Play

PJS is happy to announced we have teamed up with an incredibly talented young lady who goes by the name of Kim Service, Kim puts pencil to paper in her spare time from school to create intricate, unique, and entertaining pieces of artwork. A portion of one as seen above, full image can be viewed on Kim’s blog,  titled “Don’t Forget to Play” will be the first graphic of hers that is featured on a PJS hoodie. A percentage of every sale featuring her art will go right back to Kim to let her know how awesome the artwork is!

Don’t Forget to Play is described as followed:

“This pen and ink drawing symbolizes the need for us all to get lost in the woods. Keep your head in the clouds and don’t forget to play. Avoid getting so caught up in your bullshit that you forget what a big world it is, and the good some fresh air will do for you.”

A well-fitting piece for all our mountain enthusiasts.

To see more of Kim’s artwork before it appears on a hoodie, check out her blog which showcases new art as it is completed.

Welcome Orea Brown-Dahl & Jack Evans

There are some pretty incredible female shredders in BC, and PJS is happy to announce that one of those fine ladies will be joining the family this winter. Orea hails from New Denver, in the amazing Kootenays of BC. Focusing on skiing from a young age, during high-school she attended the Red Mountain Ski Academy. She has also called Nelson home base, spending some time working and riding for Retallack cat skiing and currently working at Nelson based, Baldface Lodge. If she’s not hanging out at the lodge then you’ll likely find her at Whitewater Resort where, last February, she earned her seasons pass while winning overall female champion in the Kootenay Cold Smoke competition. This year, she’s planning to attend multiple big mountain comps, as well as some filming, and you’ll see her lots via PJS. Welcome, Orea!

Jack was born in Windsor, England and moved to Canada in 2009. He first fell in love with skiing when he took his first family skiing trip to Piztal, Austria at the age of 9. He then started skiing for Hillingdon Race Club in Southern England at age 10 and worked his way into the British Ski Team. He has competed at a Europa Cup standard in FIS and retired from ski racing at the age of 18. He now has converted to Big Mountain Skiing, and is based in Whistler. He will be filming and competing heaps this season across Canada. We look forward to see him working his way up the ranks. Ski: Rossignal Boots: Lange

Saying Farewell and Best of Luck

After nearly 4 years working together, its time to say farewell to Zach, and wish him the best in all his future skiing endeavours. Its been a pleasure knowing such a wild fellow and we know his name will continue to pop up all over the map, and we look forward to seeing it.

The PJS family will be growing with a closer BC core, and you’ll continue to see awesome stuff from Logan in Oregon, and Pat in Ontario, along with lots of new designs from the home base in BC. Keep your eyes on the blog for lots of news in 2014, and lots of photos on Facebook and instagram.

 

-Danko

Taking Steps

Over the past five years, PJS has been growing, evolving, and figuring out where it wants to fit in this crazy mountain community. We are coming up on a new season, full of new opportunities with doors opening around every corner, and I want to share with you the ever-changing and growing ideas that have come to resonate at this stage.

We want to be as local as possible. Everything is hand-made in BC, and we are working to expand with new designs and features, all while making sure all of our sources remain as local as possible. We do this for several reasons. If we buy local, we can be doing so from smaller businesses helping those close by. Buying local can also help to lessen our environmental footprint as we bring you PJS products, because materials do not need to be transported as far. By making all our pieces by hand with custom orders or very small batches, we also lessen the waste from production. As more products are made, we learn how to minimize unused pieces of fabric, how to create more durable items, and how to improve the overall designs to be more useful in day-to-day life.