Supporting Local Vancouver Artists With ink space

I am a strong advocate for social entrepreneurship, and believes that it is possible to support and give back to the community while maintaining a financially feasible business. Heck, I’ve started my own social enterprise and worked for one, in addition to going through a program to learn the foundations, and eventually co-coordinating that program to support other aspiring social entrepreneurs.

It is no surprise that whenever I learn of the launch of a new business with social aspects, I get excited and that ‘butterfly in your stomach’ feeling. I always say Vancouver has many brilliant minds, and the start-up community is so amazing and supportive here. At the same time, that also means there are many ideas that currently exist, or have been tried before. How does a business stand out and come up with a truly innovative idea?

The team behind ink space has shown the community how their ideas can turn into something meaningful for everyone, from the creator to the end user of their products.

Here I am wearing the design by artist Rene Botha

Each design is the creation of an international tattoo artist who is currently working in Vancouver. ink space wanted to blend a mix of comfort, style and art by giving the tattoo artist complete artistic freedom. The result is a combination of a comfortable daily shirt, with artwork prints that are a labour of love by both the tattoo artists and the team behind this venture.

Another goal of ink space is to allow the person wearing the shirts to experience different tattoo designs without actually committing to one just yet. I’ve definitely been rotating around the designs! I personally find this concept appealing to me, as the profession I’m in (aside from blogging haha!), and will continue pursuing in the many years to come, does not allow tattoos. These shirts have provided me with a taste of having a ‘tattoo’ on my arm without actually getting a permanent one.

Here I am wearing the design by artist David Tombu

Just look at that detail of the tattoo design, truly amazing talent.

Here I am wearing the design by artist Nestor Acevedo

Each design is limited to 500 and comes with a card of authenticity!

I’ve been wearing these shirts for about 2 weeks now, and I am extremely happy with the quality and fit. The material is very soft and comfortable, and I can wear it in many situations. As I’ve mentioned above, social entrepreneurship is important to me. ink space not only shares a portion of their profits back with the tattoo artists (you’d be surprised how many other people won’t do this in the creative industry!), but they also make it a point to showcase each artist and their talents through a personal profile page featured on their website, creating a supportive network, and placing a focus on the artist, rather than just themselves.

In the photos below, I’m wearing a size small, when you order hopefully this will give you a good idea of what size fits you best. During the shoot, in true Vancouver weather, it has been snowing so there was still a lot of snow in the background, and raining when I was taking the photos, hence the umbrella. Pretty much what you see in the following photos is how THE TYPICAL VANCOUVERITE looks like. We like our comfy and stylish clothes, while it never stops raining here 😉