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JOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
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Kevin Takatch, fashion designer and owner of BeLove, is building his fashion business online.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew I couldn\u2019t (wimp) out, like I did with the first celebrity I saw,\u201d says Takatch, who declined to give his age.<\/p>\n
Andr\u00e9 was in.<\/p>\n
It was the kind of unexpected encounter that has come to define BeLove \u2014 find someone interesting, take a chance and see what happens.<\/p>\n
That off-the-cuff feel is part of what\u2019s helped the brand get noticed. Lately, it\u2019s also become a bigger part of the story.<\/p>\n
Instagram deleted BeLove\u2019s original account, wiping out years of posts, followers and connections. For a small label built mostly online, it was a major setback.<\/p>\n
So Takatch started over and brought people along for the ride.<\/p>\n
The new account<\/a> has become a window into the brand as he rebuilds it: samples arriving, strangers modelling jackets, chance encounters and the occasional celebrity.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also more of Takatch himself figuring things out as he goes and sharing what happens along the way.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s reminded me that the actual story and the people behind the brand are more important than the follower count,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Before starting BeLove, Takatch worked as an educational assistant in Winnipeg. He had no fashion training or industry connections. He just liked clothes and wanted to make something of his own.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Comedian Eric Andr\u00e9 in BeLove<\/p>\n His own style is \u201cpretty eccentric,\u201d mixing vintage pieces with newer ones and avoiding anything that looks like it came straight off a mannequin.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always been drawn to clothes that have a bit of personality to them,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n That carries over into the brand. The clothes are colourful, nostalgic and a little weird. And he looks for that same sense of personality in the people who wear them.<\/p>\n Back in Winnipeg, he takes much the same approach with people who aren\u2019t famous.<\/p>\n \u201cExcuse me, sir, would you be down to model this jacket?\u201d Takatch asks one man. \u201cYou can keep it after.\u201d<\/p>\n The man agrees.<\/p>\n That\u2019s pretty much how he finds his models. He approaches people around the city based on whatever catches his attention \u2014 an outfit, a face or just someone\u2019s general energy.<\/p>\n At the Winnipeg Folk Festival, he handed jackets to strangers and asked to take their photos. One of them, dubbed \u201cthe Colonel,\u201d left with a Folk 75 jacket.<\/p>\n Another subject, Joe, was having a rough day when Takatch stopped him. They talked, Joe modelled the jacket and Takatch gave it to him afterward.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Takatch puts his clothes on strangers.<\/p>\n Not everyone is immediately sure what to make of a stranger asking them to model a jacket on a Winnipeg sidewalk. But once he explains that he just likes their style, people are often game.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s made me realize how much people appreciate being seen. Seeing them gain a little confidence during the shoot has probably been the most meaningful part for me,\u201d Takatch says.<\/p>\n The people in his street shoots show up with their own shirts, hats, jewelry, wrinkles, hair and ways of standing. He gives them a jacket and lets them be themselves.<\/p>\n \u201cI realized I didn\u2019t necessarily need professional models,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are so many interesting people walking around Winnipeg, and I thought, why not just approach them and see what happens?\u201d<\/p>\n That same instinct shows up in the clothes.<\/p>\n The Vampire jacket is heavy blue denim covered in shadowy figures.<\/p>\n Other pieces feature cowboys, horses, flames, praying hands, cigarettes and wooded landscapes.<\/p>\n The jackets have names such as Fire, Horse, Prayer, Woods and White Smoking.<\/p>\n
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