The streets are quieter.
The darkness of the night takes over the skies earlier.
The last of discarded food wrappers and donut bags have been swept up at the Fair at the PNE.
There is no denying it: summer is over. 聽And with this most unwelcome time of year comes the absolute despondency that is going back to school. 聽We all know the feeling, the dread really, of sitting in uncomfortable chairs for hours trying to learn something that we鈥檙e quite sure won鈥檛 come up again (and if it does, well then...鈥檚up, Google). 聽Characteristics of fungi? 聽Calculating compound interest? 聽Is that not what The Discovery Channel and banks are for?
Nevertheless, the point of my writing is entirely the opposite of where you think this is probably going (and no, I am certainly not here to express resentment at my biology and maths teachers, wherever you are; but you should know that I haven鈥檛 really had to turn my mind to the intricate details of fungi, save for their price per pound and how much I want on my pizza and thus in my belly and there exist online calculators to help figure out interest issues - so there. 聽Real motherflippin鈥� talk). 聽The point is that beyond the tyranny of someone lecturing at your face for hours and the acute stress of final exams, school is pretty good at spitting out creative folks who are eager in entrepreneurial pursuit and, even better for the rest of us, sure about keeping their ventures (pretty, whimsical, and) local.
Take Cheralyn Chok, of for example. 聽Cheralyn is a third-year commerce student at UBC who (let鈥檚 take it back) at the age of four helped thread needles for her seamstress grandmother and ever since then, aspired to combine her flair for textile design with the technical skills acquired in business school to set up her own shop. 聽In Cheralyn鈥檚 first year of university, she had already made a few bowties - the first adorned by her grade 12 prom date - and was looking to make her mark in the men鈥檚 tie market. 聽Using different fabrics and textiles made by local designers, what followed were gorgeous handmade ties fit for every occasion.
Photo: Farhad Ghaderi
Fly At Risk ties are not on the straight and narrow, but boast way cool floral prints, polka dots, and plaid patterns. 聽Herein lies the beautiful irony of these ties: they don鈥檛 look or feel like your grandpa just found a box of his severely outdated pocket squares and trench coats in the dingy ol鈥� attic, however Cheralyn鈥檚 dealings evoke methods from probably around just that time, that is, the old school when people did business in person and tried to keep money in the community. 聽鈥淚 made a handful for my very first market at the Eastside Flea at UBC in the spring of 2014. 聽I was so happy that the ties sold well and was inspired to start approaching some local shops about carrying my ties, a goal that originally I had set for five years down the road.鈥� 聽Sure enough, Cheralyn鈥檚 ties have found homes in cozy stores about town, including The Hunter & Hare (334 West Pender Street) and WALRUS (3408 Cambie Street) in 麻豆传媒映画and The Handpicked Home (1406 Johnston Road) in White Rock.
Cheralyn talks about the stores that sell her goods as fun, unusual, and tailored to the seasons, which serves well as a reflection of her ties, specifically and her demeanour, generally. 聽When asked about Fly At Risk, named after a mistakenly heard line of Taylor Swift鈥檚 jam, 鈥淢ine鈥�, Cheralyn laughs with an air of quirky confidence, 鈥淪he sings the words, 鈥渇light risk,鈥� and for some reason I thought she was saying, 鈥榝ly at risk鈥�. 聽I always thought it was a funny phrase. 聽When I was in high school, I鈥檇 post albums on Facebook of all the items that I had sewn or knit and they were all under the 鈥淔ly At Risk鈥� title. 聽From then on the name stuck...and here we are today!鈥�
If you need a tie that will make your black or blue suit bang, then go get a Fly At Risk tie, about which the underlying premise is dedication to one鈥檚 craft and investment in all things homemade (of note is the fact that upon request, Cheralyn also does custom sets for weddings and other of life鈥檚 milestone events). 聽Moreover, go pick Cheralyn鈥檚 brain on September 26, 2015 at Etsy 麻豆传媒映画for a day of pop-up markets held at Robson Square. 聽You鈥檒l get all the good feels of shopping local and perhaps more importantly, of an inspired good news story in September about someone鈥檚 application of those often forgotten subjects taught in school.
