Being an entrepreneur and small business owner, I love to hear success stories of talented people who started companies, with the goal to make a difference and to to bring something new to the market; people driven by a vision, a passion, a curiosity, and a determination; people with a mission.
Today I would like to introduce you to Kevin Peacock, co-founder and creative director of luvmother™. I came across the brand when doing some research for the Shop Directory, and I quickly fell for their lovely children’s clothing line, which consists of durable and quality activewear made of merino wool. The style is simple and timeless. And to top it off, I found out their HQ is actually based out of Montreal! I’m so pleased to make you discover this talented entrepreneur from my hometown – Yay for local talent!
Psst: If you like their products, you can get 15% off with the code LUVNORDIC at checkout!
Q: Tell us a little about yourself – How did it all started?
A: “My background is as an art director and graphic designer and my specialty for the past 15 years has been everything and anything to do with the outdoor sports industry. As a result I have spent a lot of time working with apparel, equipment and tourism companies and stomping around the mountains in my merino wool threads… Giselle is a teacher, a mom and has a background in Public Policy and Corporate Social Responsibility. My training as it applies to luvmother™ and clothing design has its roots in growing up the son of a home economics teacher who would have us make our own surf trunks and taper our own pants. The later became a cottage industry in high school with kids lining up ready to shell out $5 to have their school trousers narrowed and cuffed. The rest comes from a keen interest in fashion design, observation and time spent with talented professionals in the field. I co-founded luvmother™ with my wife, Giselle Murphy (Editor’s note: They are such a cute family!).
Q: What inspired you to start your shop?
A: The inspiration for the collection ultimately comes from our 4year old twin daughters, Léla and Quinn. Since they were born we’ve been spoilt to have their Norwegian cousins send us their great merino wool hand-me-downs but have had a hard time finding our own quality merino kids products in North America. What little we’ve found has been limited to sleepwear and long underwear.
Merino wool has such amazing qualities, its renewable, its technical and the merino fabrics we’re using are awesome to design with. The idea of combining these attributes into a casual collection for kids and offering it to the North American market was all the motivation we needed to press go!
Q: What sets your shop aside from it’s competitors?
A” We make premium clothing for children that is manufactured in Canada. Producing domestically has afforded us a high level of quality control, an attention to detail and the ability to collaborate with suppliers vs simply outsourcing. Our merino is sourced from non-mulesed farms in New Zealand and Australia, renowned for luxury, quality and performance. This wool is not your Grandmothers wool and feels as soft as cashmere, is machine washable and as functional as it is fashionable. In a market ever full of choices there is no one else offering that.
Q: Who or what influences your style? To what do you attribute your wonderful aesthetic?
A: Function is our biggest influencer. We start with casual, trusted silhouettes and add our twist of fun, fit, colour and style.
Q: How do you find the pieces/products for your store?
A: The process has been very collaborative and inspirational. We started with a series of sketches and a general idea of what we hoped to accomplish. From there we work with a seasoned designers to refine the offering and help create designs that are focused on fit and function from both a casual and a technical perspective.
We work with mills in both Australia and New Zealand that source their wool equitably and have excellent environmental records. As for sewing, we‘re currently working closely with a small factory in Vancouver which allows us an attention to detail that we couldn’t get close to with an overseas production. Although our clothes may cost a little more, the enhanced process means that they are lot better as a result.
Q: What are the biggest challenges you face with running your own store?
A: For us the biggest challenge to date has been getting the word out about the brand and giving people an opportunity to touch and feel our pieces for themselves.
Q: What do you love most about having your own store?
A: Having our own store allows us to be involved in every aspect of the process, to re-act and improve quickly and it gives us a direct connection to our customers, their needs and their trusted feedback.
Q: What are you proud of?
A: We are proud of our emphasis on quality, versatility and brand transparency. We use the term ‘Sourced in Earnest’ because it’s an attitude whereby we try to approach everything we do consciously and minimize compromise. It guides how and what we create and inspires all future plans for the brand.
For example: our hangtags are FSC certified (Forest Stewardship Council) and we offset all our shipments with the purchase of carbon credits. We are also very proud to be making and producing things in the country we call home, selling a majority of the collection directly from our website and thus minimizing the number of links in the chain.
Q: Do you have any special projects in the pipeline or exciting future plans?
A: We are working on our Spring Collection and are very excited about adding to the Classics Collection we put together for our launch. We have begun to sell our blankets at retail, in shops like BIllie & Axel and Boutique PinkiBlue. Don’t be surprised if you start to see luvmother™popping up all over!
Q: What are your favorite pieces/products at the moment?
A: We have ten styles and two blankets and love them all. They layer well together or work well on their own, accessorizing clothes that are already in your kids closet and adding an element of function to their everyday wardrobe.
The most common piece of feedback we get from a customer is telling us that their kids don’t want to take the clothes off and asking us when we will start to make pieces available in adult size…”
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Discover the beautiful Luvmother products here, or read more about their story on the blog Lake Jane.
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