Inuk from Labrador launches Big Land-inspired apparel
Pamak and Co. hoping to be next household name in clothing
An Inuk man from Labrador has started his own clothing company, drawing inspiration from the Big Land for his designs.
Josh Pamak originally hails from Nain on the north coast of Labrador — people throughout the province commonly refer to Labrador as the Big Land — but now lives in Nova Scotia where he launched Pamak & Co.
He stumbled into his business unintentionally, making T-shirts for himself and family as a teenager.
"I kind of just did it for a laugh usually, something to do for a gift or something. I figured it was just a nice personalized way to give things to family and friends," Pamak told CBC's Labrador Morning.
Fifteen years later, he opened a shop after his designs started turning heads and people began asking where they could get their hands on his pieces.
But one design put Pamak on the map, his own rendition of the popular East Coast Lifestyle clothing brand which launched in 2013 and swept the Maritimes, and then the globe.
"The one I'm a bit more popular for was basically like a novelty shirt. I just did a riff on the whole East Coast Lifestyle to make it North Coast Lifestyle, which kind of went with the whole Labrador theme," he said.
"It's where I grew up. I'm a Labrador boy through and through, so anything that I can do that basically talks to me, the people of Labrador and more specifically the Inuit, I'm more than happy to do."
Products
Right now Pamak sells T-shirts, hoodies and recently started designing and selling leggings inspired by the Labrador flag and the Northern Lights, that can be found on his company's Facebook page.
"People seem to really like some of the designs I have up. People have been asking where my website is and things like that but unfortunately I don't have one yet. It's something I'm hoping to get going in the near future," he said.
Pamak officially launched his Facebook page in early September, to a "pretty good" response, but still holds a day job until things hopefully take off.
"I'm an automation I.T. and instrumentation designer. I guess not a lot of people understand what I do," he said.
"Basically I draw pictures all day for that too. I do technical design at work, then I get to do some funner design work in my spare time."
For now Pamak is just having fun with his designs and representing Labrador. He's interested in making the clothing company a full-time operation, but won't chase his hobby into the ground.
"I'm the type of person that when something stops being fun I'll stop doing it," he said. "If it gets a bit too stressful or a bit hectic, I may scale it back a bit."
With files from Labrador Morning