The first thing I noticed when I walked into Sasha Jardine’s home was just how colourful it was. I’d already seen SteMargScot’s gorgeously bright wool coats online—shades of hot pink, vibrant orange, and lime green a welcome sight compared to the blah black and grey puffers I’m used to seeing in Toronto winters—so I was delighted (but not particularly surprised) to see her home was decked out in similar vibrant hues.

It only made sense that Sasha’s home embodied her love of colour too—think fun statement furniture and bright throw pillows. Yet my eye was drawn directly to the rack of coats Sasha had in her living room. After all, I was there, with the rest of the Graydon Skincare team, for a photo shoot.

When we got talking in between photos and wardrobe changes, everything new I learned about Sasha’s brand inspired me. I knew SteMargScot’s coats were made in Canada without any metals or plastics, but I didn’t understand exactly what that meant until Sasha explained.

From there, I learned that every element of SteMargScot’s coats are intentionally chosen. From the wooden toggles handcarved by a local artisan to the wool from a woman-owned mill, the coats are made with an emphasis on sustainability, minimal processing, and supporting local craftspeople.

I left our photoshoot day excited to talk to Sasha again. A few days later, we sat down for a more formal conversation, where I got to ask her about everything from her past career as a scientist, to her philosophy on colour, to even the story behind why she started SteMargScot!

Plus, I snuck some of the gorgeous photos from our photoshoot day throughout the interview (and even a few behind-the-scenes ones).

But before we dive in, here’s a little more about SteMargScot:

SteMargScot is the world’s first gender-inclusive outerwear company with a free-from plastics and free-from metals ethos, made with love in Canada.

Founded by Sasha Jardine, a Caribbean-born, colour-obsessed, winter-intolerant, science nerd, SteMargScot is on a mission to empower you to unapologetically wear colour and break from the sea of unsustainable ubiquitous winter coat styles.

A Conversation with Sasha Jardine

After our hello’s and a quick catch-up, we dove right into the story behind SteMargScot.

GM: I’d love to hear more about your background and how SteMargScot came to be.

SJ: My mom and I came to Toronto from Guyana in the 90s. As the daughter of a single parent, going to school and building a stable career was something that was really emphasized. So, that’s what I did. I went to school, studied, and got a Bachelor’s in both Science and Education. I then worked as a secondary educator, teaching biology and chemistry for 10 years.

However, I wanted to delve further into science and research, so I went back to school to do my Masters and worked in Drug Discovery at Sick Kids for about 5 years. One of the things I did as a researcher was find a drug to treat a disease that didn’t have a cure before. That was something I worked really, really hard for—I’m talking 18 hour days—and it is one of my biggest achievements. 

GM: That’s an incredible accomplishment.

SJ: I did it because I—like all researchers—was passionate about finding a treatment. It’s not a career you do for glory because 99% of the things you try in terms of experiments and testing hypotheses don’t work out. I was able to publish my findings. This was around the time Covid hit, and reaching this milestone made me think about what was next for me. 

I could continue my career in research or try something else. I’m a firm believer that life should be a journey of learning and growth. I’d ticked all the boxes, gone to school, and built a stable career—I could have spent my life in education or research. But I’ve also always loved colour and been interested in art and painting. Everyone who knows me sees what I’m doing now and says, “That makes sense.” But for me, it was a longer journey to get here.

During Covid, I was sitting down with my husband just chatting and we ended up asking ourselves, “If you could do anything in the world and money wasn’t a factor, what would it be?” This was also around the time I’d just bought myself a new, expensive coat—a puffer jacket. I’d come to the realization that I was walking around wearing, essentially, a giant piece of plastic. Not to mention, I was just one of thousands of people in Toronto wearing the same type of coat—it didn’t stand out at all. And so my answer to my husband’s questions was this: I would love to make really great wool coats that are super colourful and vibrant, that make people feel great when they put them on. I also wanted to do something different from the stiff, matronly styles we’re used to seeing in wool.

SteMargScot started from there.

Life should be a journey of learning and growth.

GM: Was it scary to do something completely new?

SJ: Yes. But it was also scary to jump into research from teaching. I had two kids when I started my Masters—a one year old and a four year old. Coming to Canada was something completely new, as well. So I think I’m used to change. I’m used to things being new and different. 

But it was still scary to enter the world of fashion. It was intimidating and such a different industry than what I was doing before. Fashion is also so subjective compared to science. 

Adapting to an industry that is profit-driven was an interesting change, since in research it’s non-profit and mission-oriented. You’re so focused on helping others. That was a challenging shift for me.

GM: I think you’ve incorporated some of that into SteMargScot. You’ve got a huge focus on sustainability that goes beyond profit.

SJ: Knowing myself, I couldn’t start a business if there wasn’t something deeper than money driving me. There had to be a bigger “why.” SteMargScot’s big “why” is to create pieces that make people feel joyful. 

Alongside that, another pillar of the brand is creating garments that honour the earth. We try to use things that are renewable, biodegradable, and come from the earth with as little processing as possible.

The last pillar is community. From the get-go and even still today, we’re one of the sponsors of Vibe Arts. It’s a charity that brings arts programs and colour to underserved communities in Toronto. Giving back is a huge component of why SteMargScot exists, and this charity is especially important because they are literally bringing more colour into the world. Art was something I didn’t feel I could pursue when I was younger, so it matters to me that we can help create those opportunities for others.

We also want to work with local craftspeople and artisans to keep local industry and production alive. Supporting our local makers is deeply important.

We try to use things that are renewable, biodegradable, and come from the earth with as little processing as possible.

GM: I remember when we last talked you were telling me about just how local every part of the coats, pins, and bags are. Even the wooden toggles are handcrafted by someone in Toronto and are coated in hemp oil from, Barrie, was it?

SJ: Yeah, there’s a hemp farm in Barrie called Hempola. They grow the hemp then process it to make the oil. I think it’s incredible that we can use so many products that are full circle and local. 

GM: Right, last time we spoke you said the hemp oil is to avoid using a plastic coating on the toggles. Can you share a bit more about where some of the other components come from and why you chose them?

SJ: The toggles are all individually carved using a lathe, meaning they’re one of a kind, by a woman named Jessica—a female woodturner, which is very rare! I wanted our coats to have that human touch. If you see our toggles in real life, you’ll see that they’re all unique and imperfect. That’s the beauty of them—they’re made by a real person and you can see all her decision making in the toggle. It’s quite beautiful.

The buttons are made from corozo nuts, a renewable material. The nuts themselves are similar to coconuts. The company we get them from pays the community who produces the buttons fair wages, which is a must for me.

Even the rope that holds the toggles in place comes from a small mill in Seguin, which is part of Muskoka, called Wave Fibre Mill. It’s owned by an incredible human, Wave Weir. She saw a problem—the local farmers were burning their wool because it was the cheapest solution for them—and gathered milling machines, many over 100 years old, from across Canada and started this mill in her neighbourhood. 

She scours the wool and has all the machinery to process it. Then, the wool is machine spun and woven on their loom. It’s lovely because there is minimal processing, and the wool remains close to its original source. If you smell it, it still smells like the farm. It still has little bits of organic matter in it, which I think is lovely because it hasn’t been completely doused in chemicals to pull it so far away from its original source. I love that it still has that bit of the farm in it. 

All our totes are sewn by one woman at her studio in Roncesvalles, and all  our coats are sewn on Spadina.

GM: It must have taken so long to find all these people and put everything together. Lots of work and research, I’m sure. 

SJ: It definitely was. There was no step in the process of building SteMargScot that came easily. From the wool that we use for our coats to finding the people to make pieces like the toggles, each step took months and months of research and testing.

GM: Something that caught my eye on your site was that your coats are genderless. I’d love to hear more about that.

SJ: My husband, Tom, loves colour and he’s always a bit let down when we go shopping for clothes. Just the other day we were out shopping and we looked into a men’s clothing store, and all we saw was white, black, and maybe some beige. It’s shocking how few colourful options there are for men.

In general, if you’re a woman and you love colour, you can find colour… even if it’s not a shade you particularly love. There’s always a colour trending, at least. But for men, you have to search far and wide for options. I think it’s sad to pigeonhole men that way.

I think about my son, Ben. He’s twelve. Something starts happening with boys' clothing. When he was younger, there were really colourful clothing options—coats, swim trunks, shirts, jogging pants. But now at twelve, everything starts getting black and grey. We say to boys and men, “Okay, this is the role you’re going to play, and these are the colours you’re going to wear. These are the colours that are professional. These are the colours that people will respect you in.”

That’s why I made the coats genderless—to rebel against this expectation that men have to wear neutral colours to be taken seriously.

I made the coats genderless to rebel against this expectation that men have to wear neutral colours to be taken seriously.

GM: I love that. And I agree! Men deserve more colourful clothing options. In general, why is colour important to you?

SJ: To me, colour is connected to joy. A book I read that put this into words for me was Joyful by Ingrid Fetell Lee. She also has a wonderful website called The Aesthetics of Joy.

The research she shares about joy and happiness actually contradict what people typically think. For example, if you’re deciding on an end table for your room. One option is neutral, the other is green. A lot of people would choose the neutral one because it’s the safer choice. It’s the least likely to offend long-term. Whereas the green table, which you love right then, might be something that you don’t like anymore in the future. To avoid a decision where you might eventually dislike your table, you choose the safe option.

But the research shows that the safe choice, while it won’t disappoint you, won’t bring you happiness, either. The bold choice—the one you love right now but might not love forever—actually ends up bringing you joy. And it brings you more joy as you age with it.

This idea has stuck with me, to pursue the things that make you happy and to not be afraid of the choice to pursue them.

Pursue the things that make you happy.

GM: I’m seeing the connection here to the namesake of your brand, St. Margaret of Scotland.

SJ: Exactly! The story goes that she thought the Scottish people would benefit from wearing more exquisite, colourful pieces. And so she brought in artisans from around the world to show the Scottish people how to make these garments. St. Margaret believed that having colourful clothing would have a deep, meaningful impact on them. 

I think that’s really interesting! One of the reasons we named the company after her was because she understood the power that had to bring joy to people.

GM: Let’s talk about joy. How can people find a little more joy in their lives?

SJ: There’s a difference between joy and happiness. Happiness is deep down, but joy is actually more surface level. It’s more like instantaneous little blips of delight from the world around you. 

I can’t remember where I heard of it, but there’s something you can do to find more joy called “joy spotting.” If you start to notice those blips of joy more throughout your day, if you get into the habit of calling attention to them when they happn, it decreases your threshold for being happy.

If you have enough of that joy spotting in your life, you tend to go through the world as a happier person.

GM: That’s lovely. Well, I think I have my plans for the rest of the day! I’ll be doing some joy spotting. Thanks so much for sitting down and chatting with me.

SJ: Thank you. I’m glad that I could share SteMargScot and all we’ve been doing with the Graydon community. Everyone on your team has been so kind and affirming.

Embracing Joy and Colour

I left our conversation that day and did exactly what I said I would—I went joy spotting. It’s amazing what you’ll notice out there when you’re looking for it. I saw someone hold the door open for an elderly woman at the store, a dad taking his baby out in the stroller for a sunny, mid-afternoon walk, and even spotted a glimpse of a colourful coat on my subway commute.

Thanks again to Sasha for sharing so much with me during our conversation. It’s not often you get to speak to someone about what they’re truly passionate about. But when you do… it’s a joyful, colourful experience.