Meet Emma-Sky!
Fabulous designer & kind soul.
She started sewing at fourteen by creating weird projects as she puts it, that were hand sewn. When she received her grandmother’s sewing machine, that is when sewing became the replacement of homework after school.
Trying to figure out what you are good at isn’t always an easy journey. Emma-Sky spent time wondering this and had to figure out her learning style. She mentions having to deconstruct her brain to realize she was a hands-on learner. This was the discovery she had been searching for.
It is difficult to believe when you look at her beautiful pieces today, to hear her say, “I had a hard time saying I am an artist”. It is never easy to hear someone so beautifully talented, unsure of their craft.
Emma-Sky grew up on the magical Salt Spring Island. A quaint place off of Vancouver Island. Sometimes, there are people in life who give us our shot. Emma-Sky found this person at a local shop working for a fashion designer. She sewed everything in the store. She started realizing she could maybe do this as a career herself and needed something more to begin this journey.
Emma-Sky described it as a small hippy school where there were four other people in her class. She took a textile program at the Kootenay School of the Arts. It was there she gained something she hadn’t realized she needed, the confidence.
When I asked Emma-Sky why she started her underwear line. It was a comical response I think we can all identify with. She simply had her same underwear for years. She was still in school at this time and classmates started asking to purchase the underwear she was creating for class assignments. As she started selling underwear on the side, blue.roots began.
I had to ask where the name blue.roots came from. The answer she responded with felt delicate and warm. She said the name came first, then followed the meaning. Blue resembles deep and roots to her means rooted. This is how she felt blue.roots came to identify. It felt meaningful, it was for people who needed it. It felt relatable.
Inspiration is something I had to ask about.
Intrigued by her words; such as, natural shapes, colors, and fibers. Fairies and 1800s Victorian-style. When I said I noticed a 40’s feel, myself. She said something that has stuck with me, “Looking back in time, to become inspired.” Simple and honest.
Her creative journey took time for Emma-Sky to figure out. It is now a process that works for her. 90% of the materials are thrifted, reclaimed or deadstock that would have been thrown out. Therefore, she creates her clothes in a reverse direction. She starts with fabric and then creates what it is that fabric will be and how the design puzzle will be solved.
The future of blue.roots.
She says she has an open mind and is learning. She is not too serious and is enjoying the expedition. She feels she is growing alongside blue.roots. As creativity is not a linear trek.
One thing we can all learn from blue. roots, is to grow with our life changes and explore our creativity. She uses the past to create the now, and it is whimsical and promising.
Thank you Emma-Sky for your time, gentle spirit and our dream team at CREAM is looking forward to growing alongside blue.roots.
You can find a selection of Emma's underwear & bralettes in the shop as well as our CREAM x Blue Roots collaboration of jackets and summer sets launching soon!