The United Nation’s 17 sustainable development goals (SDG), presented as colorful panels, inspired Devin Gilmartin to start fashion brand Querencia Studio with fellow high school student Tegan Maxey. Moving on to college in New York, their business grew into a nomadic store concept strongly linked to SDG, down to those pictograms. The Canvas only accepts small brands who can demonstrate the way they meet particular SDG, and then the store provides customers with meaningful information about the products. Now 24 years old, Devin discusses the power of decentralization and physical stores, his alternative to trying to retain Gen Z’s attention, and what it’s like to become your own professor’s boss.
Interview: Petrina Engelke, photos: The Canvas / Dr. Cameron Smith
Devin, why do you believe that if small brands do something together, they can achieve more than a large corporation?
Well, for a start, the large corporations are not achieving very much. In fact, they achieve more destruction than good, and they have created a system that makes it hard to fault individuals for. Corporate greed is structural, and incentives are not aligned with the incentives of a healthy planet and healthy people. So we need to change what success looks like. And I think that happens when you have independent creators with a clear path to monetary stability. I also think physical retail access is one way to do that. Secondly, the large brands have created supply chains and systems that are hard to change. Even going into companies like Zara and H&M as an executive, you will have a very difficult time trying to implement changes across the board. I think it is a lot easier to build from the ground up and start fresh. And that’s what all these small brands are doing: They have new ideas, they have a local supply chain. If we have many, many different cases of that kind of system in place and use it to dress people and feed the fashion economy, then that’s much better than this built-in supply chain that is outdated and unsustainable, both from an environmental and a longevity perspective. We are hitting resource limitations, so something has to give. And I think decentralization is the answer to that problem.
How are you acting on that idea?
When a brand applies to join The Canvas, they have to talk about how they address at least one of the UN sustainable development goals. And they have to describe that in as much detail as they possibly can, with photos, certificates, so that we can share that narrative when we have customers in the store. There, our tags have the SDGs on them, with little boxes next to each SDG, checked off pertaining to the goal that the brand addresses. In our latest store, we are implementing QR codes on each tag, working with a company called Rootip. By scanning the QR code you will be able to see the entire supply chain of the brand and the individuals involved in that supply chain. You will actually be able to tip these people directly. The money goes to that person, not the company, not us. You don’t even have to buy the garment to do that. I think that goes beyond transparency, that goes to actually connecting the world in a new way.
How did The Canvas change when you look back at what you first wanted to achieve?
The Canvas has remained passionate about the sustainable development goals, but how we address them has slightly changed. We are living in a new retail environment, a new business environment. We started the company intuitively thinking that a change was coming. The calculus was, there are many, many small brands in the world and there are many, many vacant spaces in the world. And I think the small brands sort of represent a decentralization of power.
What does decentralization mean in practise?
When you sell a product, no matter what it is, and you control the entire supply chain of that product, you know the individuals involved in making that product, you have power over your own life. You have independence and sovereignty. I think fashion is just one example of where that’s growing. Other examples of that sort of decentralization are the financial sector and what’s happening with NFTs, cryptocurrency and so on. I think overall, this is going to be a moment of great change and opportunity for society. And we want to make sure that