FASHI O N
ERIN TEMPELTON Bag designer and maker in Vancouver’s historic Chinatown
“I
t’s been 13 years and this neighbourhood is finally starting to love me back.”
When Erin Tempelton returned to Vancouver after studying shoemaking in England and undertaking further leatherwork studies in Australia, she bought an entire shop of leatherwork equipment, looked for a studio to set up and immediately start creating.
“I tried to rent a place in Chinatown but no one would rent to me. I walked into the Modernize Tailors and spoke to one of the owners, Bill Wong. I told him what I was looking for and he proceeded to tell me what every old other guy in Chinatown had said: that it’s a crazy idea, I should give up now and go back to school. I was polite but I said that I had passed that point, bought all the equipment and I just needed a place to put it. Then he looked at me and said, ‘Okay, come with me.’ He walked me though what is now my store, all the way to the back. He pulled back a hanging sheet and there was this 300-square-foot store space facing Shanghai Alley. It was filthy, but he said I could use the space if I cleaned it up. It was a start.” Erin’s unique bags sell across Canada in retail stores, art galleries, online and in her Chinatown shop, and are all made by hand in a workshop located at the back of the boutique. Erin says that although she releases a couple of new bag designs each season, she mostly stays in her own lane rather than following fashion trends. She credits her success with having incredible people working with her and an ability to just keep moving forward and plugging away. “In the beginning I think I just bulldozed ahead without thinking, ‘can I really do this?’ And being around the Modernize Tailors taught me a lot of hard lessons. Bill and Jack Wong were trained as engineers but they couldn’t get jobs as engineers because of racist attitudes, so they took over their father’s tailoring business, which he started in 1913. Bill was very matter of fact about everything. When my machine broke they encouraged me to fix it myself — and I did it. It was not easy to do and then suddenly all these things that seemed too hard became possible. They were really hard on me, but I’m really hard on myself too, so every time they said something, I would listen.” After four years plugging away in her studio at the back of the shop, the Wongs retired the Modernize Tailors and Erin took over the lease on the whole shop.
Erin Tempelton
Story and Photos by Lia Crowe Model: Sierra Lundy 44
B O U L E VA R D
“When I took over the shop, I was really nervous about being seen as a gentrifier, as obviously I’m not Chinese. But Bill was really great. He said, ‘Who cares what the neighbourhood is doing? Just keep doing what you’re doing.’” ■