Meet the artisans, discover their expertise, and share their passion.
A dive into our exclusive collaborations and special partnerships.
A new fashion collaboration is coming to Icône. The My Heart, My Cause project highlights the talent of Canadian illustrators whose works of art are featured as T-shirt prints. Each of these exceptional artists has also selected a charitable organization that is particularly important to them and for every T-shirt sold, $10 will be donated to these chosen causes. Read on to meet the artists whose ideas and hearts are as great as their gifts.
Brice and Mélanie, co-founders of Baltic Club, always wanted to create a company aimed at spreading joy, comfort, and happiness. These business partners equipped with vivid imaginations made that dream a reality in 2014. Since then, they’ve been brightening up our day-to-day with exciting and original artistic paper designs!
As part of our collaboration, they created Chiromancie, a piece representing the complex and fascinating divinatory art of palmistry. Why did they choose this subject? “Now more than ever, anything that provides comfort and hope is essential to our lives,” explains Brice. “For us, this illustration represents healing, kindness, open-mindedness, and hope.”
The two associates have chosen to donate to Mira, a non-profit organization that aims to empower people living with one or more disabilities by offering guide and service dogs. Since 1981, more than 3,000 dogs have been provided to people across the country for free.
To see Baltic Club's artwork:
https://www.thebalticclub.com/
Baltic Club at Fabrique 1840
À Marée Basse is a group of three artists—an illustrator, painter, and photographer. Their mission? To spark curiosity and wonder. Based on the Magdalen Islands, Catherine, Nicole, and Maude share a love of their region’s insular and maritime nature. Seashells, sea urchins, and marine plants and mammals… in every piece, they combine their talents to depict the beauty of their exceptional archipelago.
As part of the My Heart, My Cause project, they submitted a photograph entitled Cueillette du littoral. This naturalist work features treasures that they have carefully collected over the past decade. Gathered together and immortalized, these items illustrate the intrinsic link between artist and nature. “What would we do without the sea that gives us these surprising and moving gifts at every low tide?”
The trio have chosen to donate to CALACS L’espoir des Îles, a support centre in the fight against sexual assault. In addition to helping victims and their loved ones, the non-profit organization aims to raise awareness, mobilize the community, and advocate for women’s rights.
To see À Marrée Basse’s artwork:
https://www.amareebasse.com/
À Marrée Basse at Fabrique 1840
While studying fine arts at Concordia University in Montreal, Annie Axtell fell in love with screen printing. She particularly enjoys the fine details and precision of the printing process, finding it a flexible and unerring means of expression. Now based in Vancouver, British Columbia, she creates clothing, posters, decorative cushions, and one-of-a-kind lunar calendars.
Entitled Cinta, this piece is inspired by a ribbon’s undulating lines. The artist mixes her colours by hand to obtain unique and authentic tones. She then begins her brushwork, experimenting with negative space, shapes, and contrasts. The result? A particularly captivating work of art.
Annie has chosen to donate to the Nature Conservancy of Canada. The organization aims to raise awareness among Canadians and protect biodiversity across the country. Since 1962, the organization and its donors have protected 14 million hectares of ecologically significant land.
To see Annie Axtell's artwork:
https://annieaxtell.com/
Annie Axtell at Fabrique 1840
This young Montreal designer who is passionate about surfing and travel expresses her ideas and point of view through art, graphic design, and illustration. Founder of the brand and service platform Out Of The -, Claudie Lamarre stands out for her minimalist approach to art. While her style may be pure, simple, and light, the themes she chooses to illustrate are weighty issues of our modern day. Equality, environmentalism, feminism, sexuality, social media, politics—Lamarre’s blend of beauty and creativity delights while also causing people to think.
For our collaboration, Claudie created the print Don't Waste a Good Wave, a finely drawn black and white design that depicts pollution’s impact on marine life. She has chosen to donate to The Blue Organization, an organization for environmental awareness that, through public communication of science, wants to equip the public against the changes our planet is facing.
“I created this piece to express the current problem of plastic pollution in our oceans. I’m a huge fan of surfing, which is why I illustrated this issue using a wave and gave the design the title Don’t Waste a Good Wave.”
To see Claudie Lamarre’s artwork:
outofthe-boitededesignetdart.com
instagram.com/out.ofthe
Mireille St-Pierre has made her mark as an illustrator and artistic director, mainly for advertisements, editorials, books, and branding. Her work, infused with authenticity and sensitivity, has been recognized in recent years, notably at the World Illustration Awards and at the American Illustrations Awards. Devoting herself primarily to illustration, she’s currently working on producing her first graphic novel as an author.
For the My Heart, My Cause project, Mireille created a print entitled Laisse aller. This piece is a stylized portrait of a woman that’s elevated by natural elements in a rich and bright colour palette. It’s a sweet image that the artist says represents the sad feeling that comes with the end of a hot day.
Mireille has chosen to donate to the Parents Orphelins organization. This association’s mission is to bring together parents who are grieving from pregnancy and infant loss so that they can help one another while benefiting from complimentary services to the ones offered in health services.
To see Mireille St-Pierre’s artwork:
hellomireille.com
instagram.com/hellomireille
We would like to sincerely thank these artists for their talent and for highlighting these causes that they care so deeply about. All the My Heart, My Cause T-shirts are made of organic cotton and are on sale in store and online.
