RETARDED VELVET

The Retarded Velvet duo have taken a circuitous route to fashion design. Theresa James (aka Holiday) and Roger Prince (aka Capital) met during a marathon DJ set by house music legend Danny Tenaglia in 2004, but little did they know that their paths would be so entwined in life and art.

Capital undertook custom home renovations and restoring heritage buildings with an unparalleled eye for interior harmony. After eventually exhausting challenges in his trade he decided he wanted to expand creativity in his profession in a new and meaningful way.

Holiday abandoned her early dreams of fine art studies for "practical" professional training in international development and human rights law to work for the UN. Her life lead to cultural and professional experiences across the globe and she collected bolts of fabric from her travels knowing there was a greater purpose at work.

The two wandering souls found an impermanent home in Vancouver and after graduating from the Blanche Macdonald Centre for Applied Design in 2008, the pair traveled throughout India and the Andaman Islands to explore art, craft, and style. Following runway presentations at Vancouver Fashion Week (2010) and Lakme Fashion Week in Bombay (2011), the duplet relocated to Canada's East Coast and set up another transient home in St. John's.

The studio continues to evolve the language of its aesthetic, fusing global culture, pop art and the sublime with an eye to creating transformational statement pieces that are fluid and visually electric. Above all else, Holiday and Capital are firm believers in home haircuts, port wine stilton cheese, and hooky days.