Our Story

How the founders told it

Thrive carries local, hand made, socially responsible, and Eco-friendly clothing and accessories for the whole family.

When you visit us in store, you will notice that we are conscious about the colours we surround ourselves with. We aspire to a natural, neutral theme, with a palette that will mix and match again and again, no matter what you take home. Our garments are inspired by the everyday and the implicit beauty of the West Coast natural and urban environments. We want our style to transition through your day from home to work to an evening out. Style doesn't have to be compromised when living an ethical lifestyle, you can feel good buying products made with love, care, and consciousness.

Our flagship store and studio space are located on Salt Spring Island, BC. This was the ideal locale for Thrive to be born, with its abundance of green space to explore and a conscious lifestyle that is valued by owners Jessica and Zoë. Thrive gives back as much as we get, by sourcing locally, offering ethical choices and engaging in community events.

Our two founders get to share in the aspects of business and creativity that inspire them, each wearing many hats, and depending on one another to be honest, authentic, and respectful. Along with their team, they push each other to reach new standards of excellence. There are always big dreams in the making at Thrive.

Founders Zoe and Jessica met at the local farmers market on Salt Spring Island where they sold their clothing lines. It was there that they learned of one another's drive and passion. In 2012 they teamed up to create Thrive Lifestyle; which encompassed ethical fashion, creativity, and a conscious lifestyle. Bringing unique skill sets and innovative ideas Jessica and Zoë continually work hard to push the envelope on stylish ethical fashion.

Thrive // Ethical Fashion

We design pieces to fill the gap between urban street wear and west coast lifestyle. As women, we asked ourselves: “What do we want from our clothing?” We want functionality, timeless style and durability. We like to dress in classic, flattering layers for a multi-season wardrobe. Our solution is to create quality products that are affordable, ethical and better than anything else available. Our key production mandates are to use sustainable fibres such as Bamboo, Organic Cotton, and Tencel. We want to do this while remaining local, sustainable, and reasonably priced.

Our mission is to design, produce, and sell items that encourage a sustainable lifestyle that will honour the people who make it, the environment it comes from, and those who wear it. Thrive is committed to creating Canadian Made product within our local community. We want to boost the lives of the people around us while helping our community to THRIVE. We believe in producing as close to the shop as possible; therefore, we have two production facilities. One facility is here on Salt Spring Island, where we produce a variety of our structured items. In this studio we have the opportunity to collaborate with other local artists and businesses as well as train individuals to work along side us while we grow our vision of a collaborative and enthusiastic community. The second is located in Vancouver B.C. It is here in this small facility that we produce our larger runs.

The studio

The Thrive Studio is located in the back of the retail space. With the open concept studio we find that our clients enjoy connecting with the people and the creative process behind the product.

This studio space is home to Stand Up Apparel, Owl + dot dot, Spark n’ Echo, Thrive, and Gray. All of these brands are designed, sewn, or printed by Zoe or Jessica and at times a collaboration of both.

Thrive ethics

By becoming more conscious of your purchases, you can ensure that your clothing choices are aligned with your deepest values and are supporting a healthy, just and humane world. When you buy local, eco-friendly and sweatshop-free items, you are supporting a system that provides fair wages and healthy working conditions, and encourages companies to protect workers and the environment.

Sweatshop free

Every blouse, every pair of jeans, every t-shirt and every pair of shoes has to be tailored by a person doing the work. Supporting sweatshop-free production ensures fair wages, healthy working conditions and age-appropriate workers.

Eco-friendly

Eco-friendly literally means earth-friendly or not harmful to the environment. Since we live in our environment, sustainability is about improving the quality of life for our families, our communities and generations to come.

Local

Goods produced close to home. Buying locally made products contributes to a healthier economy and less fossil fuel being used for transportation. You are supporting local jobs and local people.

Socially responsible

Companies who demonstrate concern for the environment as well as their workers, using organic materials and low-impact manufacturing methods, or who donate money to charities or volunteer their services.

About this site

Today www.thrivelifestyle.ca is an independent catalogue and journal. It keeps the boutique's catalogue readable, piece by piece and maker by maker, and adds new writing on natural fabrics, clothing care and life on the coast.

It is not a shop. Nothing listed here can be ordered from this site, prices are the ones the pieces were listed at, and the site is not run by the boutique's founders or affiliated with the labels it describes. If a piece catches your eye, the maker named on its page is the place to look.