Vancouver Magazine
BREAKING: Team Behind Savio Volpe Opening New Restaurant in Cambie Village This Winter
Burdock and Co Is Celebrating a Decade in Business with a 10-Course Tasting Menu
The Frozen Pizza Chronicles Vol. 3: Big Grocery Gets in on the Game
The Author of the Greatest Wine Book of the Last Decade Is Coming to Town
Wine Collab of the Week: A Cool-Kid Fizz on Main Street
The Grape Escape for Wine Enthusiasts
8 Indigenous-Owned Businesses to Support in Vancouver
5 Things to Do in Vancouver This Week (September 25- October 1)
If you get a 5-year fixed mortgage rate now, can you break early when rates fall?
Dark Skies in Utah: Chasing Cosmic Connection on the Road
Fall Wedges and Water in Kamloops
Glamping Utah: Adventure Has Never Felt So Good
Attention Designers: 5 Reasons to Enter the WL Design 25
On the Rise: Meet Vancouver Jewellery Designer Jamie Carlson
At Home With Photographer Evaan Kheraj and Fashion Stylist Luisa Rino
The ocean flows through designer Courtney Chew's veins—metaphorically, anyway.
Local designer Courtney Chew was raised by a fashion designer (her mom!), so the craft has always been in her blood. Also flowing through the 29-year-old’s veins? The ocean—metaphorically, anyway. “I was a swimmer; I grew up in the water,” she says, “so I have this connection with it.”
That relationship, combined with a passion for the environment and a lack of swimwear options that suited her minimalist taste, led to the creation of Ocin. Pronounced like “ocean,” the eco-conscious line of men’s and women’s swimwear is ethically crafted from fabrics composed of recycled plastics. The pieces—high-neck halter tops, side-panel one-pieces and mesh-compression board shorts, for example, in neutral shades like black and olive—are sharp and decidedly untrendy, designed to be mixed and matched and worn for years to come.
Even the size labelling is an ode to the ocean, with Chew ditching the traditional XS-to-XL structure in favour of the names of bodies of water in B.C. (Teslin, Como and so on), a move that also helps wearers focus more on how they feel in the garments than what’s written on the tag. A portion of Ocin’s proceeds go to ocean-conservation efforts, too, generating what Chew hopes will be a ripple effect of more people—and brands—giving back to Mother Earth.
“We’re not perfect,” says Chew, “but we’re totally committed to evolving and innovating and getting better as we grow.”