Artist Bio
Turning hose into clothes is a specialty of Katherine Soucie, an emerging Canadian clothing and textile artist/designer currently based out of Vancouver. Her current line, Sans Soucie, concentrates on creating nylon hosiery garments that embody the individualism of her customers. Katherine was introduced to the world of fashion as a child, creating inventive outfits from fabrics and vintage clothes. This flair for style eventually led her to study the art of fashion in London and Toronto, Ontario, but feeling limited by the fabrics and materials available to her, she decided to leave design school and focus her studies on creating new textiles.
While studying Textile Arts at Capilano University, she came up with a concept that would guarantee her clothing line, Sans Soucie, and developed custom fabrics that were practical, functional, and unlike any others.
Since her career began, Katherine has been the recipient of several awards and scholarships: North Vancouver Community Arts Council scholarship 2002 for outstanding achievement in a Visual Arts program, Circle Craft Cooperative Scholarship 2003 for outstanding achievement, One of a kind show, Artisan travel scholarship spring 2005, Circle Craft Christmas Market, Silver award, Excellence in Craft 2005, Circle Craft Christmas Market, Gold award Excellence in Craft 2006, 2006 BC Creative Achievement Award and was most recently shortlisted for a 2007 Niche Award and the recipient of the international Green Design Project for 2008.
Katherine continuously works towards developing new ways to modernize traditional textile techniques by producing textiles and clothing that are new and functional. she believes that reinventing pre-existing materials raises our sense of awareness, appreciation, and expresses our need for individuality. Her work with materials such as pantyhose, dryer sheets, reclaimed wool, and silk fibers has allowed for experimentation which has resulted in creating an extensive body of work over three years.
Since launching her company, Sans Soucie, Katherine has received local, national, and international print/television media and has had the opportunity to design for film, television, and dance/theatre.
Katherine's work is exhibited and sold through fine boutiques and galleries throughout Canada, the US and Japan.
photography by Ian Sheh