Please meet our friend Taeden Hall, actually I’m sure you know her already. She is the very cool and very lovely proprietor of Gloomth, which I’m sure you know well. We’ve known Taeden for years and have always admired her (and her husband Derek’s) style and super-coolness. We’ve been writing to each other a lot lately, and I thought she’d be perfect for the next installment of Questions with Inspiring People. As she so is.

A little bio first.

Taeden has been designing & creating clothing many years. A passion for creative apparel & well-constructed garments led her to creating Gloomth one cold winter’s night. Taeden has a B.A. of design, and worked as an illustrator before starting Gloomth. She lives in Oshawa, Ontario with her husband (who conveniently is the official photographer for Gloomth) and two charming felines. She believes that well-made, lasting clothing shouldn’t be overpriced. She also hates sandwiches.

The Pomegranate Questionnaire

1. Can you tell us a little about what you do?
I run a clothing label called Gloomth the Cult of Melancholy. I do pretty much everything from designing clothing to advertising and shipping items.

2. Why that?
I have always had a passion for clothing and design, truly unique apparel is hard to come by so I decided to create the sort of styles I would like to be wearing. I started by making one of a kind pieces and selling them on Ebay and before long we had a small following and the items sold faster than I could make them. Gloomth evolved from those humble roots into what it is now. 

3. Does it pay the bills? Does it matter?
Yes, Gloomth pays my bills as well as employs about 10 staff at any given time. The financial results of this business were never my first priority, I would still be running this label and designing clothing even if it was not fully successful- I truly love what I do and what we stand for.

4. What book did you last read?
The last book I read was A Brief History of Anxiety by Patricia Peason.

5. What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Being able to create whatever I want whenever I like without limitation by market tastes or finances. Access to many interesting books and people as well as good wine and chocolate.

6. What achievement are you most happy about so far?
The achievement I am most happy with so far is probably Gloomth itself. Being able to employ others in my dream and to watch it blossom over the last three years has been truly fulfilling.

7. What is your most treasured possession?
I am legally obligated to say my husband, but my two cats come a close second. After that it would probably be the cream colored lace shirt from the 1970’s which I made out of an ugly dress from Goodwill, it just goes with everything and it’s appearance belies the $3 I spent on it.

8. Have you swooned in the cinema?
Not recently, it seems they’ve all but stopped making anything but new versions of crappy movies from the past or even worse new stuff.

9. Do you have a hero?
Tom Ford is my ultimate hero. I really admire his career and success. His work has always had a really unique flair to it- despite being mainstream- and he has delved into everything from suits to furniture. I would like to apply that sense of versatility and strong design to my own work, and strive to do so on a daily basis. I have clippings of his designs and De Sole tearouts pinned up in my studio.

10. What is your motto or favourite expression or both?
Hmm. I find myself telling myself “You’re in charge here” a lot, I suppose that’s a motto to some degree heh.

Photography © Derek Cutting