Twice a year I make a conscious effort to attend The Clothing Show held at Exhibition Place. Not only is it a great place to haggle with vendors for a cheaper price on an assortment of goodies, but it’s also the THE occasion to scope out the future of Toronto designers. On one visit just over a year ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Tetiana Kachurak, who designs her selt-titled label Tetiana K Designs.

Since then, Kachurak, 27, has seen her products land on store shelves in Vancouver and Toronto, and online at Ukamaku.com. In her Yonge Street studio where people are encouraged to “drop by whenever,” Kachurak is hard at work on her next collection, but allowed me a few minutes to chat about her label.

Like most people in her trade, Kachurak started designing early in life by drawing and making dresses for her dolls. Now she constructs pieces for young professional women with a feminine yet classic flare.

“I design for the woman who’s always a little bit overdressed,” says Kachurak.  “[Who] wants to stand out in a good way.  She turns heads and is graceful and demure.  She is not a slave to trends, but builds a wardrobe based on what looks good on her and makes her feel good.”

After attending Seneca College for Fashion Arts, Kachurak says her career path began to make sense. A few internships later, she landed at Toronto based eco-label Revolve where she learned the ins and outs of the business behind fashion. Calling it the best experience she’s had, Kachurak soon after began to carve her own way through the world of design.

“In my first season I became obsessed with silk chiffon,” she says. “The idea of making it more wearable since it’s usually a fabric reserved for evening wear.  The first shirt I designed for my Fall 2010 collection was a scarf shirt.  It was a full silk chiffon top, but with a matching jersey lining sewn right in so women didn’t have to worry about finding a matching camisole or their bra straps sticking out. The best part was how excited some women got when they tried it on. They really got it and loved the idea. It became my most popular item.”

Citing Martin Margiela, Coco Chanel, and Oscar de la Renta as her main influences, Kachurak finds that most of her inspiration comes while travelling (a favourite pastime).  

“It’s mostly because I actually have time to relax and look around me,” Kachurak tells me. “Everything really comes together when I start picking out the fabrics and colours for the season and I’m able to narrow down and pair up all the ideas I’ve been sketching.” All she needs when the light bulb goes off is a piece of paper and a pencil. Countless cocktail napkins and ripped pieces of paper are stuffed in her sketchbook and re-imagined dozens of times.

But regardless of how busy this all keeps her, she still had time to jump in FRONT of the camera. When I met her, Kachurak was the face (literally) of her label. She flaunted her own designers on her business cards, flyers, and website.

“That was a one time thing and I would never do that again!” she says. “Everyone kept telling me I should do it myself and, at the time, having never done a photo shoot it seemed like an easy solution to the already hectic set up.  I was pretty happy with the way the photos came ou,t but it was always embarrassing. It was really hard work too– 8 hours of posing and ‘elongating’ in heels was tough.”

Now that she’s joined Ukamaku’s great collection of designers, Kachurak says she’s proud to be a part of a company that boasts all Canadian brands. Ukamaku not only gives her great exposure and the chance to build a fanbase, but also helps her network through the industry.

“Designing is the only thing that has held my attention throughout my life,” Kachurak affirms. “I was really lucky to always know exactly where I wanted to take my life.”

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Bianca Teixeira writes about style for Toronto Standard. Follow her on Twitter at @BeeLauraTee.

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