According to Melissa Ferreira, shopping with a conscience shouldn’t mean sacrificing style. As the owner and designer behind Vancouver’s Adhesif Clothing Company, Melissa strives to provide customers with the best of both worlds — fresh, one-of-a-kind designs made locally and sustainably, using 95 per cent vintage and reclaimed materials. “It’s not just about looking good,” she explains. “It’s about feeling good about looking good, too.”
Located on Main Street in the heart of Mount Pleasant, the shop carries a unique line of up-cycled creations, all handmade in-house, as well as items made by up to 50 different local artisans and designers. Since the brand launched in 2003, shoppers have gone nuts over Adhesif’s signature up-cycled knit designs. Their most popular items are made from recycled vintage sweaters, reclaimed knitwear and old wool blankets. From cardigans and ponchos to leg warmers and fingerless mittens, each piece in the collection has its own personality.
Vintage fashion has always been a huge source of inspiration for Melissa. “I’ve been in and out of thrift stores my whole life,” she says. In her earlier work as a vintage clothing buyer, she learned about older textiles, took home vintage patterns and taught herself how to design patterns of her own. Since then, Melissa has become one of Vancouver’s go-to indie designers and a local pioneer of the “slow fashion” movement.
