Our Approach

With comfort and quality in mind, Affine uses natural fiber fabrics to make practical, comfortable garments in a responsible way. To achieve this, we create timeless garments with considered design, made locally with minimal waste. We want you to feel like you made a good investment.

Everything we make is produced in small runs so that each garment ends up in the hands of an adoring owner, rather than a landfill. Affine takes back leftover fabric from production for use in smaller projects and to give away to other makers. We know exactly what is left behind, and we put it to use! 

Irena Kongsuwan, Founder, Designer

Irena is a visual artist, working in various mediums. A life-long passion for fashion led her to experiment with designing things to wear. As a youth, no closet in the family home was safe from her quest to experiment and style.

Today Irena looks to wear things that are feel good enough to wear all the time. After all, when we feel great, it shows. Most of all, Irena is set on creating useful pieces which the wearer loves.

In her free time Irena can be found in a paint-covered apron, dreaming of travel to warm places by the sea.

See her artwork on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/irenamk/

What’s in a Name?

Affine in Italian means ‘descended from the same root’. The idea of inheriting values and a way of life from our ancestors connects to traditional, proven ways of clothing people. Like the way that linen has been used for thousands of years and is still one of the best fabrics in use today.

Irena also carries on the values of her Southern European Grandmothers:

Firstly, respect and value all the Earth’s resources. Everything takes energy and resources to make so should not e wasted.

Secondly, make things well, then take care of them. The better care we take of our things the longer that can stay in use.

Finally, every thing we do matters. Little steps make a difference weather they be for good or bad.

These values frame the work of Affine Fibers.

Location

We live and work on the traditional territories of the Niitsitapi  (Blackfoot Confederacy) and the people of the Treaty 7 region in Southern Alberta.

Calgary is situated on land adjacent to where the Bow River meets the Elbow River, and the traditional Blackfoot name of this place is “Mohkinstsis”  which we now call the City of Calgary.