Ecologyst

Ecologyst is a Vancouver Island outdoor apparel label founded in Victoria in 2002 as the surf brand Sitka by René Gauthier, renamed ecologyst in 2019. It builds jackets, pants, tops and accessories from natural, biodegradable fibres — ZQ-certified merino wool, organic cotton and waxed canvas — with a lifetime guarantee and no synthetics. Production returned to Canada in 2014; roughly a fifth of output is sewn in-house at its Store Street headquarters, a converted 1892 powerhouse combining retail, factory, warehouse and the Ecologyst Films studio.