The rolling Caledon Hills northwest of Toronto aren’t the first place one might think to search for clothes with an Asian influence. But that’s where you’ll find Gypsy Moth Designs, the Erin, Ontario, studio belonging to Sonia Bukata that houses her colourful collection of quilted coats and vests.
The colours and designs of Sonia’s art often reflect her Ukrainian heritage which is a kaliedescope of Mongolian,Turkish and Scandinavian influences. Other times, the fabrics alone will simply inspire her.
Sonia’s take on the hands-on skill of quilting is not about simply adhering to traditional appliqué or piecing. For Sonia, rich-looking quilted cloth is her raw material, not the finished product. “The outcome is so very different from traditional quilting that I hesitate to call it quilting – because people think of puffy clothing,” Sonia says. “My clothing is not puffy.”
Look at her creations and it’s easy to feel swept up. Each piece is a mosaic of colour and design, on the inside and out. Every piece is reversible. Fabrics are washed and quilted with gold or silver metallic thread into delightfully textured quilted bolts from which Sonia creates vests, short Chanel-style jackets, longer, blazer-length coats and full-length coats. With the addition of lavish trim, each one-of-a-kind piece is complete – and ready to be added to the closets of a growing number of Gypsy Moth fanatics – a veritable sisterhood of artsy types.
“My customers are drawn to the riot of colour,” says Sonia. “People either don’t care at all for colour or they’re immediately blown-away. And if they’re blown away, it matters not to them ultimately which item they choose, as long as one fits.”