This Emerging Brand Has All the Makings of an It-Girl Favorite

What inspired you to start your business?

I went to Paris in late 2016 and was inspired by the people, the stores, and the women! It put a vision of a

specific woman in my mind that I really wanted to design for. After coming back and graduating, I was super ready to make a collection of items I loved. I did a fashion show in 2017 in Toronto that forced me to recreate what had been stuck in my head for a while. I made it to sharpen my portfolio, but when I couldn't find anything that inspired me in my city, I started my eponymous brand Tyrell. I felt it just made sense, and I got to create my own little world that felt outside of Toronto but still in it.

How have social distancing and stay-at-home orders affected your business? How have your priorities shifted?

Social distancing and stay-at-home orders affected my business for the better, really. I mean, I had a lot on my plate pre-COVID and it was forcibly cleared once lockdown started. Not basing off the wholesale model and being mainly e-commerce, we weren't impacted by that part of the business. We're a small team that does the job using a direct-to-consumer model, so I really didn't have any middle man in the supply chain that couldn't get the job done. I was able to put all of my focus and energy into my brand, which I wasn't able to completely do before, so it's allowed me to do a higher volume of orders since all the pieces are made to order.