Elegance with alpaca
The owner and designer behind luxury outerwear brand Sentaler aims for quality and timelessness
Q Describe your brand Sentaler? A Luxury outerwear where each coat is precisely crafted using the world’s finest alpaca fabrics. With a commitment to timeless design and superior quality, Sentaler coats represent understated elegance and refinement. Q What’s new this season? A The Fall 2014 collection is about the cosy look. There are a lot of wrap coats and oversized shapes that at the same time look feminine and elegant. This collection focuses on many shades of grey, and the accent colour is army green. Q What is the Sentaler esthetic? A Elegance, sophistication and appreciation for high quality. Q Where does your inspiration come from? A Mostly from my travels — it is then when I am in my creative mindset; I see things around me and get inspired. Anything from colours to shapes to street style. I always carry a pen and paper with me so I can capture my creative thoughts in the moment, as they come and go fast. Q Do you have someone in mind when designing your garments? A Yes, the Sentaler women who are my clients. But my muse is the timeless Audrey Hepburn. Q What are the plans for expanding the brand? Will you just stay with outerwear? A My expansion plans for now are horizontal expansion. I want to stay with outerwear and complementary accessories and continue to expand in international markets. With five years behind me, I know coats really well and I want to be the best at coats. There are so many untouched territories that Sentaler has yet to reach, and I am very excited for these new opportunities. Q You are now selling at Holt Renfrew. How did that come about? A I am very excited about the new partnership. The coats are available in Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Toronto. I waited for the right time before approaching them — until Sentaler was a welldeveloped brand with a substantial following so that it was a win-win partnership for both parties. Q What do think is the silhouette in your collection that flatters most body types? A The wrap coats, particularly the signature hooded wrap and the wide collar wrap, flatter most body types from petite to size large and from short to tall. Q What would be your most rainresistant item? A All Sentaler coats are made from alpaca. It is a very interesting fabric as its glossy characteristic somewhat repels water. I wouldn’t suggest to use it as a rain coat, but if you get caught in rain, the water won’t absorb into the fabric easily. Q What’s your favourite piece in this season’s collection? A The camel hooded wrap coat. It’s the signature Sentaler coat, and it’s still my favourite.