It’s been less than a year since Cochranite Blake Ward released his first collection of Seed yoga clothing.
In the months since, the 32-year-old entrepreneur has tripled sales — expanding his collection of loose-fitting, Canadian-made yoga clothes made from breathable, ecologically friendly fabrics specifically designed for men to include a growing consumer base that includes women who just want to get comfortable.
As he seeks to bring his grassroots business to the next level, Ward is looking for support from the Cochrane community and beyond with his crowd-funding ‘Kickstarter’ campaign.
“It will cost $15,000 to produce my next collection,” said Ward, adding that pledges begin at $1 and work their way up — as do the Seed yoga products rewarded to those who pledge.
Ward designed a special line for the Kickstarter campaign, featuring discounts 20 per cent below regular retail price.
See seedyoga.ca and click on the ‘Kickstarter’ icon, which runs until July 31.
The former U18 Team Canada gold medal goalie, who was drafted to the Colorado Avalanche in 2000, hung up his goalie pads in 2007 following a nine-year career in hockey that finished at the University of Lethbridge.
With a burgeoning passion for design, Ward challenged his contempt for uncomfortable men’s yoga gear by putting his years of community sewing classes, fashion courses and countless hours of trial and error to the test by heading in the direction of sustainably sourced and manufactured yoga clothing.
Ward designs every article of clothing.
At first Seed was manufactured in Calgary, but when orders began piling up, production switched to Vancouver — where fabrics continue to be sourced from the coast.
Where traditional yoga gear is made from polyester, the self-professed yogi explained that this is counter-intuitive to the traditional, organic essence of yoga.
“As much as they tell us (polyester) breathes well, it doesn’t,” said Ward. “I think we should just ground-out and wear earth-grown products.
A synthetic fabric, polyester is considered by some critics to be bad for health.
Enter Ward’s three fabric choices — all of which were selected for their sustainable harvesting, durability, comfort and breathability: bamboo, hemp and merino wool.
What started as a solution to the disappointing selection for men’s yoga gear has turned into a growing collection of pants, shorts, tanks and tops for both sexes.
“Women were buying all the men’s stuff and we were selling out of the smaller sizes because they were going crazy over the fabric,” he laughed, adding that around 50 per cent of his client base is made up of the female persuasion.
Sharing accounts of Seed wearers who remark that they have never worn more comfortable clothes to likening the line as ‘walking in clouds’, Ward said he has met with other players in the yoga industry and is aiming to partner with a Calgary yoga studio and open a studio and retail space with a room that would offer community sewing classes by 2015.
Seed clothing is available online or at Amaryllis Yoga Studio in Cochrane and The Uncommons in Calgary.
