The Art Of The Coat
Bojana Sentaler
Sometimes, you need to travel the world to realize your calling. For luxury outerwear designer Bojana Sentaler, a six-month textile research trip in South America and chance meeting with Karl Lagerfeld in Dubai helped set her dreams in motion.
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With a few words of wisdom from Lagerfeld, who told her to pursue her passion for fashion despite having a business background, the designer launched SENTALER in 2009. The outerwear brand boasts a range of hand-finished coats made out of alpaca, a warm, lightweight and durable fabric. Sentaler sourced the textile while in Peru after noticing that wool wasn’t warm enough and down coats were rarely flattering to the feminine silhouette. Since opening her showroom in Toronto’s fashion district in 2010, SENTALER has quickly becoming a hit across Canada, hanging boxy parkas out to dry.
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The Belgrade-born, Toronto-based designer is often inspired by timeless minimalism, which pervades her range of elegant ponchos and wrap coats with oversized hoods. She has credited her success to her combination of business acumen and marketing experience. Of course, it’s also her brand’s sophisticated aesthetic that has attracted high-end clients from across the country, including Canada’s first lady Sophie Trudeau, who recently donned SENTALER coats to meet the Queen and for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s swearing in.
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While international inspirations from her travels in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and South America permeate her collections, it’s Sentaler’s fashionable answer to Canada’s long winters that differentiate her from other brands. For winter warriors, there’s no better way to traverse frosty walkways while wrapped in a swathe of a homegrown pride. â–
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Words by Julia Eskins
Photos by Aleyah Solomon
Hair by Charise Bauman
Makeup by Patty Tsonis
Styling by Mimi Audellynn
Modeled by Tara Moloney (Angie's Models)