wxgsi Peru holds a special place in Camille Byrne’s heart. The owner of Cambie design launched her textiles business after visiting the country for a family wedding in 2011. “My mom is from Peru, and I had been many times, but on that trip I saw textiles in a new light,” she says. Camille returned to Toronto with a pile of blankets she began selling at flea markets before opening a permanent shop in 2013. When she relocated to a larger space just west of the city’s Trinity Bellwoods neighbourhood last year, she expanded her global offerings with Moroccan textiles.
“The bright colours are so cheery,” she says. Those Peruvian blankets that launched Cambie design are now custom-made; Camille selects all the colors and patterns herself. She devotes the rest of the shop mostly to Canadian talent. Ceramics from Vancouver’s Dahlhaus studio and Toronto’s Shayna Stevenson are displayed alongside woven wall hangings by Picot collective in Victoria, B.C. even the design of the store showcases local makers, with Akai Ceramic studio pendant lights illuminating a counter clad with custom tiles by Xenia Taler Design. “What has been most satisfying is the community I’ve built around Cambie,” says Camille.
Located at 1048 Queen St. W.