2. To test your limits and push towards once-distant possibilities can be a humbling
experience. But it can be an empowering one too. Lost on a windy shore and trying
to build a sturdy shelter between the squalls—or learning to live closer to the land by
tending your first food garden—you’re likely to find both constraints and capabilities
that surprise you. Sitka’s Spring 2014 collection examines these scenarios at a time when
we’re exploring our own boundaries and discovering new ways of doing business.
A good life is an examined life, and through the last year we’ve been unraveling some of
Sitka’s own presuppositions to take a deeper look at where we’ve been and where we’re
going. Spending time wrapped in the solitude of the wilds—or simply digging into the
necessities of life in the soil—will inevitably change one’s perspectives. And being honest
with ourselves about what we want and what we can do has shown us that we can leave
behind some of what we’ve learned and stick true to our own path.
But what does that mean?
For a start, we’re breaking out of the seasonal cycle, replacing our paper trail with a
digital one and working to bring our production home to Canada. There are a lot of
exciting options out there, and we’re embracing the freedom we have to choose. The
company mantra we’ve been working with is ‘do less better.’
And you can do the same. We’re inviting you to join us on our journey to an alternative
future that nourishes the community and cultivates individual needs. We’re aiming to ‘do
less better’ by putting more effort into fewer products—we have less items this season,
but we’re focusing on the details to make sure each piece is flawless. We’re also bringing
production closer to Sitka HQ so we can support local manufacturing, work more closely
with our suppliers, and make Sitka products that our customers know will last a lifetime.
Further, we’re providing the flexibility to have product arrive when you need it throughout
the year, not just during the seasonal push. And we’re helping to keep the trees around
by moving the majority of our ordering system online. All these adjustments are part of
us learning to embrace both boundaries and possibilities while we live out the freedom
of choosing our own direction. We’re getting closer to what we always dreamed Sitka
would be. And we like it.
Happy trails,
Sitka
PAGE 1
3. jacket Chicory | vest Borage | t-shirt Quadrant
dress Marigold
Living off the Land
spring delivery
photographer
Alana Paterson
fashion editor
Mel Greene
models
Brittany Simpson
John Burgess
Alana Paterson pendulums enviably between city and country and has the portfolio to prove it. Though not based anywhere in particular,
Paterson spends most of her time farming a substantial acreage on the ever-so idyllic Gabriola Island. When her hands aren’t in the dirt,
they’re busy taking fair and graceful photos of whatever seems to be out there. Paterson is light on her feet and not faint of heart and her
eyes search for a natural light that can make even decaying top soil and dilapidated toolsheds look beckoning and sublime. – Julia Kidder
PAGE 3
8. dress Marigold
tank Honeysuckle | shorts DIY
leggings Milkweed | sweater Urchin
Danica Lundy Floral Print
www.danicalundy.com
I grew up in the forest. My sister and I used to make homes under the trees: beds of cedar leaves,
walls of twigs and old brick. There is a stream that runs through our childhood property, edged
by fern cliffs, wildflowers, and a tree line that seemed to watch over us. There was a scattering
of moss-covered stones that interrupted the stream’s trickle; they became thrones sometimes, or
the head-tops of giants. We were queens there. We were forest warriors, creatures of the dirt and
the flowers. Our little limbs were slivered and scraped by the end of the day, but each wound
was a badge we wore proudly, reminding us of the wild and our time there. I sat and painted this
tangle of blossoms and thought about how lucky I was to grow up in such an untamed space,
surrounded by the wonders of the forest.
PAGE 13
9. Hey Chris.
Hi Ben. You got a bunch of questions?
I’m glad you asked that because, yes. First off, I have been wondering where
you’re from because I thought you said Singapore?
Niagara Falls, Ontario. I’d like to say born and raised but that would be a
lie. I was just born there then moved to Singapore with my parents.
You started skating there, ya?
Ya there was a bit of a scene there. I wanted to come back to Canada
because I was in a Canadian school and we had always planned on moving
back. Eventually I decided I needed to be where the skating was good and
there was more opportunity. I ended up in Vancouver.
Is that when you shaved your head and rocked baggy-ass pants?
You bet. You’ve got to understand I was listening to a lot of punk music and
I just dressed weird for a punk rock kid. It was like skate punk? Skate rock?
Skate something? I don’t know, one of those bands. I never was into hip-
hop or anything. I just would get free clothes from my parents and my dad
was bigger than me. Once I started getting sponsors and free clothing it was
just like t-shirts and cargos and shit.
Who was your first sponsor?
My first actual American sponsor was Deca, but my first Canadian sponsor
was a shop in Vancouver called the Boarding House. I also got like Axion
flow from Ultimate and World Industries from Centre.
The Deca days were sick. Watched your part in ‘2nd To None’ yesterday
hence the question about your shaved head days.
Yea Deca must have been around for 4 years maybe? Coop (Cooper Wilt)
and I got in at the tail end right when Deca was winding down so we
didn’t get to do any of the tours with those dudes. Some of that warehouse
footage in the film was from when I first met Daewon. Can’t remember the
tricks but it was over a flat gap. Think I did tailslide heelflip on some ledge.
Then the next day I met Rodney cause I think Daewon told him to come
meet this weird Canadian dude with a shaved head haha.
How do you feel about the skateboarding right now?
Man, I have no idea. Honestly, I’ve been finding it hard to become
motivated and inspired at the moment. It seems so watered down right now.
Everyone is doing the most insane tricks but they all look identical. It’s like
everyone can do everything so I guess it’s not what you can do, it’s how
you do it. But I feel like I’d rather watch someone who’s got a unique style
opposed to a million guys who do a trick and they all look the same. I don’t
know where it’s going to go.
Where do you think your skating fits into that?
I don’t know, I just want to do stuff that makes an impact and that lasts. No
matter who, they’re gonna film a part and it’s forgotten in like a week, you
know? So that’s already going to happen, but I just want to make something
that shows my best and hopefully people will remember it longer than a
week. I guess that’s the least I can ask for.
I think you’re doing a great job.
Thanks buddy.
Your doing such a great job that you’ve been invited to the Smithsonian’s
National Museum of American History?
Haha that’s right. I was invited through Rodney Mullen because he’s
involved in an exhibit called ‘ Innoskate’. It’s a look at the invention and
creativity behind skateboarding and the skateboard culture. There will be
discussions on how board shapes have changed over the years as well as
skateboard footwear and how skateboarding affects communities. People
like Tony Hawk, Rodney (Mullen) and Paul Schmitt will be there. There’s
going to be a big display of stuff and they’re auctioning off some of Tony
and Rodney’s stuff. We’re going to have a big demo on Go Skate Day.
Should be really rad, I’m excited.
That’s incredible. You lucky dog. What other plans do you have for the
summer?
Well we’ve got a trip to Whitehorse planned in July with the Sitka team
and that should offer up some great times I’m sure. Going to be Brett
Stobbart, Colin Nogue, Zach Barton, Fabian Merino, Shelden (Meleshinski)
and Dane Pryds. So, pretty talented group of skaters. Excited to see what
happens.
Yeah I guess you’re the veteran in that group. Do you ever feel pressure
from the younger guys?
Not really, it just inspires me - skating with other upcoming dudes and
seeing what they create.
Being such a well-known skater, do you feel pressure from the international
audience?
Not really, it’s more just like my own work ethic that makes me feel pressure.
I mean, I really just want to perform the best I can like everyone else but it’s
just exhausting because I gotta have no life at home in order to do that. I’ve
gotten myself into this routine of just travelling everywhere. The mental
pressures of really just knowing I’m working hard at my job.
I appreciate that it’s more about your own personal work ethic more so
than being popular.
You know it’s awesome having people like your stuff and being popular
with people because of your skating, but after skating that means nothing.
It’s your life and you gotta have fun with it and do the best you can and if
people like you, they like you and if they don’t, they don’t. That’s going to
come and go, but as long as you know that you did your damndest to make
the best quality thing you can, they can’t take that away from you. Skating
changes a lot too though, people might hate you one day and think you’re
the best thing the next. You never know.
Interview – Chris Haslam
interviewer
Ben Gulliver
photographer
Dylan Doubt
PAGE 15
10. Sitka is honoured to feature the work of the recently passed, Bryan
Nash Gill. His relief print titled, ‘Leader’, is our Artist Edition
t-shirt graphic for the S/S 2014 Collection. Bryan’s legacy lives on
through his work and those that have been touched by his presence.
Sitka deeply appreciates the opportunity to showcase Bryan’s art.
www.bryannashgill.com
Leader, 2009
Ash, 30 ½ x 21 ½ Inches
In this oblong section,
the leader, or trunk, is
dividing into two. The
cores, surrounded by rings,
create a topographical feel.
A rotted branch, which
was healed over in the
final years of growth, is
encapsulated in the lower
right of the print, and at
the center, remnants of
bark can be found in the
space between the leaders.
Bryan Nash Gill’s prints remind us that every biological form
possesses a unique footprint. It’s our instinct now to attribute it
to the details of the genetic code. But the distinctiveness of these
woody footprints –– face-prints, fingerprints, spinal-prints, whatever
you choose to call them –– is shaped by history, by event. In each
Gill print of a natural tree-face –– the surface sanded and the grain
raised –– you can see a tendency toward abstraction, the emerging
of pure pattern. In their almost natural, blank-and-white state, you
can read these prints as Rorschach blots or as topographic reliefs of
very steep terrain.
Gill’s art –– his ability to capture the individuality of these trees ––
is a reminder that there is something generic or platonic in the mere
working out of the life force in each organism. What separates each
organism and gives it its distinctive living shape is experience.
Gill is the medium that wood has chosen to express itself.
Words by Verlyn Klinkenborg from Bryan Nash Gill’s book
‘Woodcut.’
Bryan Nash Gill
(1961 – 2013)
PAGE 17
11. LOST IN THE WOODS
summer delivery
photographer
René Gauthier
fashion editor
Mel Greene
models
Brittany Simpson
John Burgess
assistants
Joel Hibbard
Malou Strikwerda
jacket Out Trip | shorts Marmot | socks Woolies | pack Duluth Collaboration shirt Hunting | jeans Elm Denim | t-shirt Capillaris
PAGE 19
14. match case Flame t-shirt Lost in the Woods | shorts Marmot | hat Hare | sling shot Menace
Jacket Bedouin | trousers Marmot | shirt Burdock
PAGE 25
15. shirt Woodruff | trousers Marmot | camp chair Kick Back
fishing vest Mustang Floater | shirt Burdock | bikini Brigitte | hat Dirty Mountain
axe Granfors Collaboration
rain slicker Allium | shirt Hunting | hat Hare
PAGE 27
16. jacket Out Trip | shorts Marmot | hat Hare rain slicker Allium | tank Live Slow | jeans Elm Denim | socks Woolies
PAGE 29
17. “Fish, I love you and respect you very much. But I will kill
you dead before this day ends.” – Ernest Hemingway
FISHING
Sitka is proud and honoured to collaborate with Peetz and other
local Vancouver Island tackle companies who share Sitka’s
philosophy: that when it comes to producing goods, quality trumps
quantity. The Sitka Fishing Collection is full of gear designed to
last and get people out of the supermarket and back to nature.
photographer
Dean Azim
Peetz
Peetz has connected generations of anglers across North America
since 1925. Boris C. Peetz, a Russian-born silversmith, arrived in
Victoria, BC, in 1911 and built his first reels a decade later. By
1935, the BC Peetz Manufacturing Company had fishing reels and
swivels as it’s main line of business. The company diversified into
tackle and whole-cane rods, but it was it’s handmade wood and
brass fishing reels that became North American classics. With an
attention to detail, quality materials and a simple, proven design, a
Peetz reel is made to stand the test of time.
PAGE 31
18. PACIFIC SALMON
Pacific Salmon are the life-blood of the West Coast of North America. Transporting nutrients
from the open ocean and carrying them deep inland, they reproduce and provide food for the
people, animals and forests; connecting ocean to land. A parallel connection exists with the annual
ritual of people gathering on the coast to harvest food for their family as the salmon return.
Salmon fishing is a past time shared by generations that instills a lifelong respect for salmon and
all the life that it supports. Anglers and others engage in salmon enhancement and protection
programs to insure that future generations will be blessed by the offerings of the sea, and in turn
gain the same appreciation for what it provides.
ANDREW PAINE
co-founder of Sitka
“My first Peetz reel was given to me
by my father, who received it from
my grandfather. This one reel has
put plenty of food on our family’s
table and I hope it does the same
for my son when it is time to pass on
the family heirloom.”
fishing rod Golden Spruce | moocher reel Westcoast Waterman | filet knife Chinook
fishing vest Mustang Floater | shirt Current | filet knife Chinook | fishing rod Golden Spruce | moocher reel Westcoast Waterman | glow plug Nite Bite
PAGE 33
19. Sitka
570 Yates Street
Victoria, BC Canada
V8W 1K8
T. +1 250 385 7873
F. +1 250 920 7873
info@sitka.ca
Canada
Western Canada
Brendan Bennett
T. +1 250 385 7873
C. +1 250 882 1654
brendan@sitka.ca
ONTARIO
Spearmint Pelican Sales
T. +1 416 545 6724
C. +1 416 571 3133
rickb@spearmintpelican.com
QUEBEC ATLANTIC
Agence JG
Jon H. Genier
T. +1 450 656 5454
C. +1 450 542 0396
jonh@agencejg.com
USA
Pacific Northwest
MGA Sales
Mike Greene
T. +1 425 775 8332
mkgreen@earthlink.net
USA East
The SandboxMetropolis Agency
Charlie Kiesa
C. +1 315 415 8371
charlie@sandboxmetro.com
NEW ZEALAND
AUSTRALIA
Sitka
Andrew Howson
T. +64 21 358 366
howson@sitka.co.nz
AUSTRIA
Germany
Distribution of Awesomeness
Chris Mangold
T. +43 (0) 676 682 0700
chris@distribution-of-awesomeness.com
BENELUX
Vista Mar Fashion
Steven Sandberg
T. +31 (0) 624 095 823
steven@vistamar-fashion.com
JAPAN
Hemisphere Cargo
Makoto Mizutani
T. +81 (0) 46 877 4708
SWITZERLAND
Roots Distribution
Lukas Berger
T. +41 (0) 34 424 06 17
info@roots-distribution.ch
PAGE 35
