CHANGING THE WORLD ‘ONE SCARF AT A TIME’
Ethically sourced products help women overseas, Erin Petrow writes.
Jeanny Buan has always loved fashion and has spent most of her life working in the fashion and television industries.
She started learning about the dark side of the fashion industry in 2013, when the devastation of typhoon Haiyan hit her home country of the Philippines and a garment factory collapsed in Bangladesh.
“So I thought, maybe I can come up with a solution on how to be fashionable, help women and not harm the environment,” Buan says.
It took some time, but an idea finally came to her: Viahera Canada, an Indigenous Filipino fashion boutique — the first of its kind in Saskatchewan — where the designs are created in Saskatchewan but the products are produced ethically in the Philippines by skilled artisans with years of experience.
“The women who are creating all of my products are being paid overtime, sick time and other benefits ... because we are geared toward empowering women,” she says.
All of Buan’s products are created naturally. Among her most popular items are pineapple scarves made with 80 per cent pineapple leaf fibre and 20 per cent organic cotton. The scarves are dyed naturally with indigo, turmeric, mahogany and grass.
Her boutique also stocks handmade purses created by a co-operative of women who make each item by hand inside a cave — something she didn’t believe until she saw it with her own eyes.
Buan wants her customers to know their purchases not only support Filipino artisans, they also help send their children to school. She also regularly supports charities in Saskatoon.
“It’s not about the product, it’s about the experience … my goal is to change the world one scarf at a time,” she says. Viahera Canada Owner: Jeanny Buan Address: 414 33rd Street W. Hours: Phone: 306-881-9525 Website: www.viahera.com Check Facebook and Instagram
OLIV TASTING ROOM
With a new owner, manager and a facelift of the entire store, Oliv Tasting Room is putting a fresh foot forward and hoping to inspire and surprise Saskatoon with just how far the perfect choice of oil and vinegar can go.
Joe Jackson has taken the reins as the store’s new manager. He says the best thing about his job is being able to surprise customers with the unusual ways you can use the products.
“Whether you’re using a balsamic in a beer cocktail to turn it into a Radler or an olive oil on your shoes to take the scuffs out, I love when someone comes in for a bread dipper or a salad dressing and they leave with something they can use in their yogurts or even their hair,” he says.
The goal is to personalize the shopping experience for each customer in hopes making them feel like a connoisseur, and creating a passion for the products and food in general.
Jackson regularly brings out popcorn, a simple dip or even non-alcoholic beer for customers to help show them how easy it is to elevate something from simple to magical with a product they would never expect. “One expects a vinegar drink to taste like floor cleaner,” he laughs. “And a lot of people are surprised.”
For inspiration, the best place to start is at the store’s afterhours tasting parties, which consist of a seven-course tapas meal specifically designed for seven guests. Each course showcases an aged balsamic vinegar and a premium extra virgin olive oil — for only $10 per person.
“This way you get to try anything you want on a wide menu of just the weirdest things sometimes, and when you fall in love with it — not if — when you fall in love with it, you can take it home and recreate the experience yourself.” Oliv Tasting Room Owner: Heila Rheeder
Address: 726 Broadway Ave. Hours: Monday to Saturday at 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Phone: 306-974-2840 Website: olivtr.com
Check Facebook and Instagram Erin Petrow is a reporter at The StarPhoenix. If you have started, expanded or moved a small business in Saskatoon within the last few months, contact her at epetrow@ postmedia.com Home-based and temporary businesses, as well as those without physical locations, will not be considered for publication. Follow Erin on Twitter @petr0w.