Sara Gourlay ran her own Vancouver-based line, Fate Vintage, before meeting up with Jesse and Drew Heifetz, the founders of F as in Frank Vintage, a vintage wholesaler that has been around for close to two decades and provides brands like Ralph Lauren and Supreme with vintage pieces. They had yet to target the women’s market so they partnered with Gourlay to launch Frankie Collective in 2014, which upcycles and reworks vintage sportswear for women. Over the past couple of years the brand has caught the attention of Reebok and Tommy Hilfiger.

Sustainability efforts: Gourlay and her team work with vintage fabrics and pieces from brands such as Nike, Champion and Supreme and rework them to be more modern and feminine. The band from Supreme underwear, for example, is used to make matching sport bra and biker short sets. Or mesh Champion fabric is used to create bralettes. Gourlay is keeping garments out of landfills by working with pieces that have been stained or damaged and each piece is made locally in Vancouver. They use leftover fabric scraps for insulation.

Biggest challenge: According to Gourlay, supply of vintage pieces has never been an issue and her parent brand, F as in Frank Vintage, is on a constant hunt for vintage items to wholesale or rework. But she does hope to scale with a Frankie clothing line that would be made from sustainable fabrics.