Will Vancouver continue to grow as a Yoga hub?
The answer when put to Aleksa Havelar of Tonic clothing is a resounding yes. I caught up Aleksa last week and got the inside scoop on a local company that still designs and manufactures their yoga-lifestyle apparel in Vancouver, Canada. And yes, though they are compared to that “other” yoga company, the one that put Vancouver on the yoga apparel map, Tonic’s clothing does look different, not a spin-off to lululemon.
I also like Tonic’s continued focus on eco-fabrics – something I consider quintessential to a yoga brand – after all shouldn’t Yoga be synonymous with Sustainability? Sustainability to me = the interconnection we often give lip service to in yoga practice and philosophy, while forgetting how it relates to “real life” or as US based yogini Seane Corne often refers to, the now cliched statement, “our yoga practice off the mat.”
While still a small company, Tonic’s reputation is on the up and up. Tennis star Martina Hingis recently wore Tonic at the US Open this past summer, leading to some high profile and free advertising for Tonic on the world stage. Said Havelar smiling, “we didn’t have to pay to be there. As for our future plans, maybe we’ll be designing more tennis gear…”