GORE-TEX Studio: This one is getting harder and harder these days - but how would you describe yourself in 1 sentence max?
Colin Meredith: Mostly, I'm a clothing designer, but outside of that I'm just someone who is curious about craft and creativity in general.
GORE-TEX Studio: Tell us a bit about your city’s climate. What are your three favorite spots - in the summer, in the winter (outside)? What is your favorite method of transportation and why? How do you prep for bad weather if you spend time outside?
Colin Meredith: I live in Vancouver, Canada, and the climate here can be really beautiful but also very wet, haha. We're lucky that we don't really get snowy winters in the city, but it can be very rainy and dark for months on end.
I love being down at Jericho Beach, where I keep my kayak. My brother and I are trying to get out for a paddle every weekend, rain or shine. For my favourite method of transportation, I'll have to pick the kayak too. This summer we did a 5 day trip in our boats through a big group of islands called The Broken Group, just off the west coast of Vancouver island. We were lucky to have mostly good weather, but it was handy to have tarps and GORE-TEX jackets when we needed them.
GORE-TEX Studio: Tell us a bit about your professional life and do you draw a hard line between private/professional? What were your most memorable moments professionally, your biggest achievements?
Colin Meredith: I work as an apparel designer at Arc'teryx here in Vancouver, and I would say that there isn't much of a divide between my personal life and work, haha. I'm making, or planning to make clothing/accessories pretty much all the time at work, and then in my spare time I try to get out and test things or iterate on them. Recently I got to help out with a recycling/repurposing event with our ambasador Nicole Mclaughlin in NYC and we had a bunch of fun showing guests how to make use of old, worn out Arc product.
GORE-TEX Studio: What are you wearing today, why are you wearing it, did you have a particular weather scenario in mind when choosing this piece? What do you love most about your GORE-TEX product?
Colin Meredith: Today I'm wearing a jacket that I got to make in the sample sewing room at Arc'teryx, out of the new Hadron 3L Gore. The reduced weight of the piece makes it super versatile, so I usually have it packed away in my bag for whenever I need it. Also I love the look of the contrasted ripstop pattern.
GORE-TEX Studio: Where and when did you get this… Do you have any special memories connected to this item? If you could go anywhere, where would you like to take this piece?
Colin Meredith: Yeah this piece feels special because I made it myself! Of course the pattern + design is the Alpha FL jacket from the Arc line so I didn't do any designing myself, but it was really cool to go through the whole process and learn about the intent for every feature when constructing it. I would love to use this thing on an extended kayak trip, maybe around Iceland or Greenland to see some icebergs.
GORE-TEX Studio: How do you define the term “comfort” in clothing, in particular technical apparel?
Colin Meredith: Yeah staying comfortable in hanging conditions can be really difficult. I would define comfort in technical clothing as staying dry without overheating, while moving in the outdoors.
GORE-TEX Studio: Tell us about your current and upcoming projects… what are you looking for in the next six months and what challenges do you see that you’re excited about?
Colin Meredith: I'm really excited to get more into our "Rebird" project at Arc'teryx. I think there's an exciting road map ahead for repurposing old gear and fabric, but I know that there's many challenges in terms of reproducing things on a large scale from used items/materials. Stoked to dig in, regardless!
