How did the Eliza Faulkner collection begin?
I started it in 2013 after I'd moved back from London. I had graduated from St. Martin's a few years earlier and when my visa expired in the UK, I moved back home to Vancouver Island and started it there. I was living in a cottage with a woodstove making linen dresses. It was before the days of Netflix and Instagram so I had a lot of time to create!

Can you describe your creative process?
As I get older and busier it feels less like a process, and more like an amalgamation of things I love and want to wear. I try to start with fabrics and get inspired from there, but sometimes it's back and forth and up and down, and I feel like I'm all over the place. That being said, it always miraculously becomes a collection!

What was your inspiration for the SS20 collection?
Every time I design summer I want it to be easy, flowy, fresh and super feminine, that's always my starting off point.

What is your favourite piece this season?
The Flora dress is one my favourites. I've been playing around with ties and ruffles for a few years now but it took some time to perfect it before we could manufacture it properly. I'm so excited it worked out - I love that the ruffles can be tied on or off and worn in different ways.

Audrey Hepburn or Marilyn Munroe?
Liz Taylor

If you could only pack one piece of clothing on a trip what would it be?
I guess it would depend on the season and location - most likely a dress though!

Who’s your fashion icon?
I've never had one. I think that maybe she's an imaginary friend - a wild woman who lives in the trees and dresses like she's going to a ball with the fairies every night.

If you could dress one celebrity who would that be and why?
Buffy Sainte Marie or Florence Welch - both for their bohemian folk music and rebellious spirit.

Who the Eliza Faulkner Women?
She's bold and feminine and can very quietly make a statement.

What is an item from the SS20 collection that you can’t live without?
I'm pregnant right now so I'm going to be living in the Bunni dress. It's linen and oversized so I can grow into it, and it will be perfect in the hot summer heat.

What does it mean to be a Canadian designer?
I try to think globally as a designer, but for me, manufacturing here in Canada has always been important to me. Espeically in Montreal, there are so many great manufacturing resources and other designers in the city. It just means sticking together and helping each other out.