Krista Norris Collection

Krista Norris did not set out to start a company. She studied communications and business at Carleton after missing a place in fashion design, volunteered at Ottawa, Toronto and New York fashion weeks, and kept sewing on the side. A mentor pointed at the scarf she was always wearing and told her to sell that one product first. An Ottawa boutique took the first order, called back sold out, and asked for a fall collection; the wholesale side grew from there into Toronto and New York before e-commerce did. The line is deliberately narrow — "less but better" — and made in Canada, from deadstock fabric sourced locally and from a mill in Lyon, France, whose jacquards have become a signature. She has sold through the same Shopify store for 13 years.