A New Sustainable BUFF® Design Made for Explore Magazine
As passionate environmental stewards, Quebec-based sisters Sarah and Florence Dostie-Ménard joined Buff Canada on a mission to create a wearable art piece that delivers the important message of preserving our planet.
Can a tubular scarf be stylish, versatile and worn in over a dozen ways? Yes! BUFF® is the leading maker of multifunctional headwear for outdoor adventures. It easily transforms from a headband to a toque, to a hair tie in a pinch, and offers plenty of protection no matter your activity or climate.
Sisters Sarah and Florence run Flaz, specializing in design concepts for companies and individuals, including graphic design, illustration, branding and video and photo editing. Flaz created a unique BUFF® design for members of Explore Magazine’s ‘Live the Adventure’ Club Gear Box.
While 24-year-old graphic designer Florence leads the artistic direction and content creation of Flaz, 26-year-old Sarah serves as the team’s communications expert and handles the project management communication and social media side of their burgeoning business. In their first year of operation, they’ve collaborated on a number of creative projects with clients in the outdoor lifestyle and wellness industries.
“The goal that we talked about with Buff Canada was to create a design that would revolve around the protection of our planet while being fun, so people would wear it with pride,” says Florence about their custom neckwear design.
Drawing inspiration from her own love for wild landscapes and penchant for outdoor sports like running and skiing, Florence created a design for BUFF® that oozes with retro funkiness, a hallmark of her own illustration style. The scarf features planet characters participating in outdoor activities like cycling, fishing, surfing and skiing, each stylishly sporting a different BUFF® accessory. “This shows that in order to continue to do those activities for many generations to come, we have to protect our playground,” explains Florence. The different outdoor activities portrayed on the neckwear also represent Earth’s diverse ecosystems, ranging from forest to tundra to aquatic environments. There’s also an image of a planet with arms raised and a wide grin, wearing a BUFF® bucket hat. “This reminds us that we have to do our part to keep our planet happy,” explains Florence.
As environmental sustainability advocates, the sisters were thrilled about the opportunity to collaborate with a company whose values resonate so soundly with theirs. “It’s a subject that’s really dear to me, and to Sarah as well. It’s something that I think about every day when I ride my bike and admire the nature around me,” says Florence. The sisters make a conscious effort to practice green lifestyle habits in their everyday lives by investing in all-natural hair and body products and operating their business digitally and reducing paper trails.
The sisters also contribute to a more sustainable future by helping organize local mountain bike day camps for youth ages seven through 15. Their goal is to ignite a passion for nature in these kids. “I believe it makes a difference for the generations to come,” says Florence.
Biking, whether mountain or road, constitutes a large part of the sisters’ active outdoor lifestyle. And for the graphic designer, cycling through the rolling terrain or on the steep hills of Gatineau Park is a part of her creative process as well. In addition to messily spilling her ideas on paper at the beginning of each project, being in nature allows her to connect to the elements, where she’s able to expand her vision for a project, sift through possible ways to approach a new creative endeavour and thoughtfully organize her jumble of ideas.
Sarah, who’s in her second year as a BUFF® ambassador, regularly reaches for the CrossKnit Beanie on her day-to-day activities, as well as the multifunctional scarf for skiing, cycling and other active pursuits to help her stay outside longer.
For those who don Flaz’s design on their active pursuits, the sisters hope to get across the message that you’re also a part of the change in this climate crisis and have the capacity to make a difference on this planet. Those conscious of the impact of their consumer footprint on the ecosystem will appreciate that this BUFF® multifunctional neckwear is crafted with 100 per cent recycled REPREVE® Performance Microfiber, and each one contains two clear recycled plastic bottles—a sustainable way to spread your love and appreciation for this planet.
This article was sponsored by Buff Canada
Using the revolutionary technology by REPREVE® we are able to create accessories made from recycled materials.
Multifunctional and lightweight neckwear designed for adults and kids.
4-way stretch technology fabrics for superior elasticity and improved comfort.
Get your Explore exclusive BUFF® Original here
