About
The Brand:
Olive Rose Studio is a small creative brand, consisting of unique and entirely handmade pieces. Each piece is made thoughtfully by founder and designer Olivia Mansveld and provides a precious moment of tactile playfulness in the everyday, drawing inspiration from tactility in handmade textiles, juxtaposed with the essential, utilitarian nature of clothing. We explore textiles by recycling ubiquitous yet sturdy and comforting materials such as denims, sweater knits, and cashmere, giving products quality and integrity. We are just beginning to move from one-of-a-kinds towards our first small-batch seasonal fashion collections.
Olive Rose investigates the role and structure of the human heart as it relates to the spirit and attempts to construct its presence in fabric. Olivia hopes that every wearable and useful object can give the wearer a sense of self care and well being, and can be cherished with comforting intention. Every piece is intended to create a kind and positive impact on the earth and people.
Process:
Olive Rose pieces are carefully arranged together from what would have been scraps, so that the brand can consist in large part of responsibly-sourced material: recycled, off-cuts, and deadstock fabrics, combined with handmade textiles. The work is produced in sustainable, small batches, by one maker. Everything is designed, cut, sewn, finished and packaged in Olivia’s studio space in British Columbia, Canada on the unceded territories of the Sinxt peoples. Shipping is available worldwide. Olivia draws on her technical understanding and depth of experience in weaving to understand cloth structures and textiles, as well as pattern-making and garment production to ensure quality and durability in her garments. 
Why Recycled Materials?
The fast-fashion industry is wholly very destructive to the environment and we wish to be part of the wave of independent designers who are challenging this status quo. There is a large amount of waste left behind (both chemical and material) when clothing is produced on a massive scale and it makes so much sense to recuperate the waste into useful materials, before it soon becomes more than our earth can sustain. It is time we start asking questions about where our clothing comes from and challenging how much pollution and waste their production leaves behind. Our pieces hope to challenge the notion that clothing is disposable- they are made from what might have been waste and are meant to be timeless, imbued with the joy and love of creating them. Gentle processes such as reincorporating our own studio’s waste into new projects, sourcing selectively from secondhand materials, never overproducing, and keeping our scale small and intimate (one maker) is a start. We are so appreciative of consumers making this slow shift toward change and hope to be part of that process. Just as we want to consume food which is grown pesticide free from farmers that take pride in their work, we would hope that for clothing we could strive to support a joy in making by hand, and a clear conscience of not harming the earth while doing so.
Origins:
“ I grew up rurally between the Rockies and the West Cost mountains of Canada with 2 sisters. We had a big connection to nature growing up which remains important to me to this day, and is a big part of my textile and sewing process, to consistently take consideration for the earth and make things myself. Through the imagination in designing and making clothing which I hope will become heirlooms as years go on, I think that I’ve been brought back full-circle to my beginnings of early imagination and closeness to the earth. I was trained in weaving, textile technologies, pattern drafting for fashion, and production sewing. All these parts of my life come together to form my project as Olive Rose. The name is a combination of the nickname my sisters have given me plus my own middle name which came from the name of my mother’s childhood best friend.”