Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, every fashion brand and retailer has been forced to pivot at some point or another. For some brands that meant slightly adjusting product to encompass more leisurewear, and for others it meant a complete change of strategy. For The Canvas by Querencia, it meant pivoting to digital.
Previously, the Brooklyn-based ethical fashion retail platform only had two brick-and-mortar retail locations in Williamsburg and Amsterdam. In April, The Canvas launched its e-commerce platform to allow its customers to continue to shop the many ethical and sustainable brands it carries while its locations remained closed.
Now, The Canvas is expanding its reach even further with its acquisition of Amsterdam-based conscious art and fashion production company PAUSE Fashion Hub. The Canvas will absorb PAUSE’s digital assets and infrastructure so it can continue to grow its new e-commerce platform, while also continuing to provide opportunities for emerging brands in permanent brick-and-mortar locations.
The journey of PAUSE began in 2013 after Romina Pirani and Leticia Bordoni met on a flight from Madrid to Buenos Aires, spending the whole flight discussing how they wanted to develop better ways of consuming and producing in the fashion world. While the flight ended, their discussion did not. Two years later, they were producing their first pop-up shop. What came next was more pop-ups, a huge local and international network, and their own signature way of introducing themselves and sustainable brands to people around the world.
Over the past few years, the Canvas and PAUSE have collaborated together on multiple occasions. Most recently, they joined forces for two Williamsburg editions of PAUSE Conscious Pop Up, which took place in the then-newly opened The Canvas Brooklyn in Williamsburg.
“Romi and Leti have been a source of inspiration and collaboration for The Canvas team since we started. Our projects together represented the start of our journey and, as they move to their next chapter, we are beyond honored to continue moving ethical fashion-forward by integrating PAUSE’s digital assets, expertise and network into The Canvas,” said The Canvas by Querencia Co-Founders, Devin Gilmartin and Tegan Maxey.
PAUSE will be ending and transferring its operations to The Canvas after five years of successful global pop-ups and collaborations, propelling ethical fashion opportunities for sustainable fashion brands and designers around the world. The Canvas will be utilizing the acquired assets from PAUSE to increase transparency and story telling in collaboration with their ever-growing community, now at over 160 brands from six continents.
“Creating new creative spaces and opportunities for upcoming ethical fashion brands and inspiring the audience to get a more sustainable consuming behaviour has been our priority through all this time. And when we decided to explore new paths in our personal and professional lives, there was no doubt that the best team to continue with our legacy was THE CANVAS. Dev and Teg always showed us in a fresh and dynamic way that they are the most trustworthy, committed, and proficient to take our duty to the next level. Besides having shared laughs, tears and a lot of work, we are more than excited to continue supporting and contributing to THE CANVAS on their global mission,” said PAUSE Fashion Hub Co-Founders, Pirani and Bordoni.
In a world where consumers are pushing for increased transparency from the brands and retailers they shop, this move by The Canvas couldn’t have arrived at a better time. Although the platform is already incredibly transparent, the acquisition will help them to provide even more brand information to their consumers and create unique spaces for the fashion community to collaborate in new and more effective ways on their respective creative journeys.
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