Across Canada, many Bay department stores have been outfitted with sections inspired by the striped red, green, gold and dark indigo point blanket. Cashmere robes, cosy knit pillows and giant bins filled with popcorn kernels remind us that, then and now, Canada is about keeping warm.
“Basically, if you think about it, that blanket is to us what the saddle is to Hermès. It’s an iconic piece of our company, and of Canada,” said Suzanne Timmins, fashion director at HBC.
The Bay has attempted similar strategies in the past, but the latest efforts, which also include prints made from historic company archive letters and different blanket colour schemes, have been much more organized, Timmins said.
An old-time Canadiana esthetic happens to be a very popular look nowadays, at home and overseas, which has likely helped The Bay’s branding efforts surge over the last two years.
The famously cool boutique Colette in Paris now carries The Bay’s striped pieces, including a flask and a snowman kit. And Pippa Middleton was spotted strutting to work in London wearing a much-discussed red and black hunting shirt with black pumps, revealing that the heritage look has international legs.
Adding substance to our style was recent news that Canada was declared No. 1 on the Country Brand Index, for the second year in a row, in a study by international consulting group FutureBrand.
Our image of openness, diversity and warmth has made us the most trustworthy nation, brand-wise, in the world, it says.
“We never try to overdo and over-commercialize, but this came right at us,” said Roots owner Michael Budman of the heritage trend, which fits perfectly with the company’s long established strengths. Founded in 1973 by Budman and his friend Don Green after spending many summers at camp in Algonquin Park, Roots has made beaver-stamped sweatshirts part of our national consciousness.
Like The Bay, Roots is riding a trend that it helped kick-start in some way, interweaving stylized nostalgia goodies like soy candles in maple syrup tins and wooden peg games into its inventory of woolly knits and sturdy leathers. But Budman insists its not all fad. “We are totally against disposable fashion,” he said.
The Canadiana craze has actually been building for some time now, notes Andrew Potter, the Citizen’s managing editor and internationally bestselling co-author of the book The Rebel Sell (Harper, $19.95). Potter’s most recent book, The Authenticity Hoax (McClelland & Stewart, $32.99), deals with aligning today’s earthy, 100-mile diet, yoga bending movement with the status-seeking hippie movements that came before it.
He believes Canadiana shoppers are distinct from most organic-only and localista buyers, even though the posh plaid flannels might overlap on occasion. “Canadians have an identification with shared consumerism,” he noted, much like our national obsession with hockey or Tim Hortons. Potter recalled an example in Douglas Coupland’s 2002 nostalgic picture book Souvenir of Canada (Douglas & Mcintyre, $29.95) in which Coupland remembers reading “Captaine Crounche” on a cereal box in Vancouver. The French made him feel connected to “parallel universe country” Quebec.
“It’s patriotism as brand loyalty,” Potter said. “Like cheering for a sport’s team.”
Also building on Canada’s brand, stores like Red Canoe in Toronto opened in 2002, selling RCAF heritage jackets and CBC Radio bags. In 2004, heritage men’s line Wings + Horn was introduced in Vancouver. When The Bay CEO Bonnie Brooks decided to promote the company’s famous point blanket in 2009, she sent the movement fashion forward by seeking top-tier Canadian designers, like Mariouche Gagné of Harricana, Jeremy Laing and Smythe, to redesign the iconic red, black, yellow and green striped warmer.
The fact that many of The Bay’s heritage pieces are not made in Canada does not seem to ruffle Canadian feathers. Nor does the fact that Hudson’s Bay Company is now owned by American Richard Baker.
“What’s ultimately being consumed is the symbolism. As long as there are no sweatshops involved, it’s nothing (shoppers) will get super-fussed about,” Potter predicts.
Indeed, aside from the Cowichan sweater incident prior to the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, when authentic, First Nations sweaters were knocked off to suit the demands of The Bay’s Olympic Collection, resulting in some serious controversy, Canadian shoppers seem to have sobered up to the idea that many goods that look Canadian might not be come from here at all. Quite the opposite, actually.
“It’s like a signature from Canada,” marvels shopper Constance Lafontaine, while touching a striped woolly blanket on display at the downtown Bay in Montreal. Lafontaine had come to the new company-themed section of the store to buy a gift for her friend in Turkey.
Those blankets were never made in Canada, I point out, but in England since being traded for furs in 1670. “That’s perfect. I prefer U.K. quality over made-in-China quality,” she said smiling, pointing to her Black Havana glasses, also made in England. Lafontaine was toting a Louis Vuitton purse.
The attitude at Roots was much the same. Shoppers were generally unfazed about Canadiana items not being made in Canada, even though the company’s new label features a potentially deceiving Canadian flag and old-time writing. (Items made in Canada and not made in Canada may feature similar looking tags).
Marika Julien, who recently moved to Canada from France, was shopping for hats at Roots with her dad, who was in town for a visit. “I wanted to take him to see this brand because I think it’s beautiful and it’s from Canada,” she said.
“It’s OK,’’ Julien said of the provenance of the hat. “Most items today are made in China, like this hat.’’
Both The Bay and Roots have carefully assembled heritage collections to suit diverse clientele: Those with an eye for quality, those devoted to buying local, and then, of course, budget-conscious shoppers who look at the price tag first and foremost.
Michelle Vrana, a college student from Montreal’s West Island, was shopping for a gift for her father. “He loves sweaters and I love Roots, so I thought, why not?” she said.
That the items are not made in Canada is a bit of a disappointment to Vrana: “But it’s OK, because I’m proud to wear Canadian stuff — as in, when stuff says ‘Canada.’ It’s patriotic and I like it.’’