Blog

Checking In With Katie Butler

Checking In With Katie Butler

Hard to believe it's been over a year since we last spoke with local artist, Katie Butler. We sent her some of the new Afends intimates a few weeks ago and she was kind enough to give us a quick update on what's been going on. Katie! Hey hey!How are you these days?I’m doing great! Keeping super busy balancing a couple part-time gigs on top of trying to keep up with my commission schedule. It’s been a very productive summer with lots of change and its fair share of growing pains. So last time we talked you were heading into your...

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Artist Feature: Chris Solcz

Artist Feature: Chris Solcz

If you were able to get to the shop in-between lockdowns, you would have seen Chris Solcz's art up on our walls. He and our pal, Mateo, worked on a cool feature about his latest series, Construction and Deconstruction, and sat down with Mike to chat a bit about the film and Chris's work.       Hey guys, happy summer. Mateo: Happy summer Mike! The day-to-day is always up for me - a perfectly timed balance of work, pleasure, music, fun and creativity.  Chris: Hey Mike! I just wrapped up a mural project in Muskoka, now back in the...

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Afends Shelby Hemp Corduroy Jumpsuit

Haley x Afends

Lockdown number three, an early spring, and nothing to do. So we gave our new Afends collection to local photographer Haley Mai and she went for a stroll around her 'hood before taking some time to catch up with Mike. Hi Haley.Hey Mike!Crazy that it turns out you live right down the street from me. How’s living on Windsor’s drag strip?I’ve never heard it be called the drag strip before! Love that. Cars burn rubber. It's so awesome to have a front row.Oh wow that’s totally spot on! Honestly, it happens way more often than I thought it would and can be quite...

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Interview: Russell Cunningham

Interview: Russell Cunningham

Music. Friendships. Good times. Well if that doesn't sum it up, I don't know what does. And it sums up Russell Cunningham, the easy-going Windsorite who grew up in the Detroit music scene of the early 2000s before leaving to go start a record label in Vancouver, only to return to Windsor and bless us with last summer's Saturday night Evergreen Dreams patio sessions.  Russell's curating our new music selection and so I sat down and spoke with him about growing up here in Windsor, the perils of owning a record label, and some of the cool things he has...

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Sail Away for 20K

Sail Away for 20K

Toronto-born Jamie Ingall just goes for it. No holding back, no second-guessing, and maybe not that much planning, either.  I first met Jamie in the summer of 2011. She was a tanned and barefoot sailing instructor, living in a sail locker at a yacht club on Toronto Island, working on boats by day and and drinking Kraken Black Spiced by night. She’s the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants type with an appetite for adventure like no other. I remember a few years later calling her from Jamaica and asking if she wanted to join me for a sailing regatta. She landed the next morning.  Eventually Jamie became a...

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Interview: Anthony Sheardown

Interview: Anthony Sheardown

Full throttle. Pedal to the metal. Balls to the wall. That's Anthony. We first met him at an Urban Surf Boards 'n' Brews event in the summer of '18 and after becoming friends he ended up throwing our official launch party the following spring. The kid oozes passion and drive, whether it's hustling for his photography biz or pumping out books (he's launching his second at the shop on September 18th) and using the fruits of his energy to chase surf in Central America or California. Back in early July we sat down and chatted about work, bikes, and traveling.  Hey, Anthony. Happy Heat Wave....

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