Julia Vagelatos is rooting for the underdog of the fashion world.
"What I'm really, really excited about is fanny packs," she said, giggling. "I've been trying to bring the fanny pack back for like two years and we were looking through some magazines in the UK, and the fanny pack is back in the UK! So we're thinking, 'Oh man, our time is now!' Our fashions always seem a little behind the UK, so I'm like 'I'm on it!'"
Push aside the Day-Glo nylon monstrosity that instantly popped into your head. Vagelatos's version is much more refined. She creates each one from scratch, attaching her custom-designed leather belts, complete with vintage buckles, to the pack portion.
The Whistler-based leathersmith's spin on the throwback fanny pack has caught the eye of a UK designer, Nina Hopkins of Swagga & Soul, who is featuring two of Vagelatos's unique designs in her 2011 look book.
"That was really great because that actually pushed my boundaries. Living in Whistler and living on the West Coast, our style is a little bit different, you know? It's a little laidback. So I really had to think about what the UK is and that fashion scene and try to step it up."
Love Jules Leather accessories look right at home alongside the sophisticated, trendy designs of the big city.
And the UK look book isn't the only big project on the horizon for Vagelatos. She has also been asked to design a line of accessories for the B.C.-based surf clothing line, Sitka.
"What's really great about it is that I'm designing, but they're also going to give me full credit in their catalogue."
A lot has happened in the past year for the up-and-coming artist. Last spring, Vagelatos was accepted into the Community Futures Self Employment Program, which allowed her to focus full-time on her art and business.
"The product that I was making last year compared to what it is now, it blows my mind!" she said.
The program also helped her learn about the business side of things, like bookkeeping and marketing.
"The classes that came along with it were really helpful and it got my mind out of just being an artist and what it means to be a business person," Vagelatos added.
A Whistler-raised ski racer, Vagelatos retired from the sport, and the B.C. ski team, in 2002 to pursue her passion for the arts.
"I was just graduating from high school and the team had moved to Invermere, B.C., so I was living out there and I don't know, I felt there was some vacancy there. I wasn't loving it anymore," she recalled. "And all my friends were going to university and I needed to figure out what I wanted to do."
She ended up going to Capilano University for one year, until an art class inspired her to pursue her passion. She ended up enrolling at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.
Leathersmithing, her chosen medium, is something of an unconventional art form these days. Vagelatos got her first taste of working with leather when designing gifts for family and friends during her university years.
"When I was going to school I had no money, so when Christmas and birthdays came along, I really needed to show those that I love that I love them. So I would make them handmade gifts: silk-screened T-shirts and wallets. So when I was working for this leathersmith, I started making belts for my brothers and parents, and it just kind of took off from there.
"So that's essentially what Love Jules is - it's a sign-off on the gift."
In her second year of art school she got a job with a leathersmith to help pay the rent and ended up falling in love with the textile medium.
"I just enjoyed the material. It's super impressionable; you can mould it, you can draw on it, you can dye it with all these brilliant colours. And it's functional - I really love functional art."
Since making her debut on the Whistler art scene a few years ago, Vagelatos has participated in local arts events like the Whistler Farmers' Market and Bizarre Bazaar, as well as Vancouver fairs like Got Craft and Make-It. She has also recently been juried and awarded a "new artist" scholarship into the "One of A Kind" Toronto and Vancouver shows, which are among the largest craft shows in North America.
"I'm thinking of producing like $40,000 of inventory, so it's just totally out of scope of understanding. It's a huge step, I'm way out of my comfort zone right now, but it feels really good and I think that I've got a solid product."
While belts had been Vagelatos's canvas of choice she's recently branched out, creating thicker, high-waisted belts, fanny packs, headbands, fringes and more.
"I've really tried to narrow down what I make, just to put more energy in it," she mused.
"I've kind of changed around my product; it's gone from one-of-a-kind pieces to more of a production line."
She has selected 15 designs that she recreates in a limited cycle. She still does all of the work herself, by hand - drawing the designs freehand, dyeing them, riveting and sewing. No machines are used.
"The one-of-a-kinds were really taking a lot of my time and it just wasn't economically feasible to put those out there. I think to have a successful business and to have growth, I think I needed to reevaluate and see where I could maximize my creativity, and that's in the design."
Rather than spending five hours on a single belt, she can now make up to four separate pieces in a day. And she's noticed significant improvement in her own work.
"I think that that really has changed my designs and what I can achieve on the leather, which is really great, because I think that the quality and also the tactile quality of the product has really changed."
The price point, between $60 and $140, may catch a few people off-guard, but most can tell that an immense amount of thought and time go into each handcrafted piece.
"Some people can look at my product and feel my product and say, 'I totally understand the price point, because it's all hand drawn, hand dyed.' And I think that people that are conscious of those processes really can see the value.
"Then there are others that, maybe those belts aren't for them, because they would rather just go for a brown or black belt - and that's totally fine!"
Love Jules Leather pieces are now available at 10 shops and boutiques in B.C., as well as online at Etsy.com.
