maker
blacksaw
The idea was born during a surf trip to South America. Due to a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake in the Province Steph and Kyle Taylor were located in, they decided to take a long motorcycle trip up into the Andean mountain range and away from the damaged coastline. Here, they discovered all the beautiful alpaca fiber from this region and quickly fell in love with the idea of building a sustainable business around it.
They dreamt of creating something that wasn’t size or gender specific, it would have no expiry date. It would be passed on for generations. It would become a MEANINGFUL POSSESSION. A few days later they embarked on a fourteen hour bus ride to the South where they put their dream in motion. They spent the entire duration of the ride sketching out their business plan on children’s notepads that they picked up from the local market. While the rest of the passengers slept and watched the featured foreign movies on the small, granular screen at the front of the bus, they started shaping their new brand.
They came up with a name, “Blacksaw”. Shortly after a slogan, “Meaningful Possessions”. It may have been the altitude or the cowboy coffee, but whatever it was, they had a very clear and concise brand vision, so they started developing a mission statement around it.
The notes on the paper that day read; “We will not sacrifice who we are and what we believe in. This is a story about staying true to our vision and sticking to our belief systems. Working with eco-friendly materials, or better yet, not working with man made synthetic fibers. Making sure we are contributing to the solution and not to the problem. Utilizing, in our opinion, one of the most underused and underrated fabrications in the world, and turning it into something beautiful, that we are proud of. We will only work with people who inspire us and people we trust, believe in and truly care about”
They then had to take a step back to assess if this business concept actually made sense from a lifestyle perspective. After travelling for a year, they developed a new appreciation for experiences and they started looking at them as a secondary “currency”. Travelling taught them lessons. They learned that these experiences unlocked their best selves and triggered far more creativity. Being creative kept them inspired and being inspired kept them happy. They needed to move away from the old “working” model to develop a lifestyle that lead to predictable happiness. At the end of that fourteen hour bus ride, Blacksaw was born. Not only was Blacksaw going to be a brand that encompassed everything they stood for, but it would become a freedom machine for a new age lifestyle.'
Stephanie Taylor
Steph's focus at BLACKSAW is design, brand strategy and creative
art direction. Prior to Blacksaw, she worked as a key account manager
with surf culture mogul, Billabong, for 5 years in Toronto, Canada.
Steph Graduated from fashion design in 2003. Since then, she has
continued to design with a juxtaposition of modern and vintage. The
result is a counterbalance of loud minimalism.
When she is not building her brand, she spends as much time as she can surfing, travelling, combing vintage store’s and designing clothing for her own unique personal collection.
Steph is a visionary, constantly trying to bend the rules and take things one step further. her strongest attributes are her creativity, vision and her strong attention to detail. Steph thrives in new and exciting worldly environments and draws inspiration from all corners of the globe.
Kyle Carson Taylor
Kyle focuses on marketing initiatives, brand management and
strategic partnerships. Prior to Blacksaw, Kyle worked with iconic surf
brand Quiksilver as a key account manager. He then moved to California
brands Nixon and Roark Revival before travelling for two years across
Asia & North and South America. Kyles greatest strengths are his
creativity, customer service, drive and leadership. He thrives on new
challenges, particularly those that expand his new company's (Blacksaw)
reach. His most recent projects include strategic partnerships and
global distribution.
Stephanie Taylor
Kyle Carson Taylor