HORSES, named after the transformational influence of Patti Smith and the studio’s design values—velocity, wildness, utility, and beauty—is the continual creative project of novelists and lifelong friends Claudia Dey and Heidi Sopinka. Their design mission: to celebrate female strength and intellect through elevated and timeless dressing. 

The founders created the label in the summer of 2012, pushing strollers under a bridge while Venus transited the sun. Months later, their first design, the iconic slipdress, was profiled in Vogue.

HORSES’ spare and storied aesthetic draws from the designers’ travels to islands,  deserts, and Canada’s north, as well as their years of making art across disciplines. Answering to a desire for both fantasy and function, HORSES designs for the independent-minded wearer. Claudia and Heidi believe that fashion is autobiography. Their collections are built from this private expression. Featured in Vogue, ELLE, Goop, and on HBO, HORSES has been worn on red carpets from TIFF to Cannes. Their clientele includes Jourdan Dunn, Hailey Gates, Leslie Feist, Jerry Hall, Jemima Kirke, Neko Case, Sarah Polley, Andie MacDowell, Molly Ringwald, and Margaret Atwood. 

HORSES believes in the rare skills and empowerment of garment workers, and that an enduring piece can hold both the past and the future. The label has achieved cult status while remaining true to its ethos. Cut in luxe textiles sourced from family-owned mills in Italy and Japan, every HORSES piece is consciously designed and sewn in downtown Toronto.