SHIFTER had the opportunity to profile fashion designer, artist and The Indi founder, Elsa Ebada, about his creative expression and who inspires him to create.
Name: Elsa Ebada
Home Base: Nowhere in particular I’d call home, but Ottawa is where I live and work.
Biggest accomplishment: Thus far it’s been teaching design to the apprentices on my team. It’s an incredible thing to realize that the ideas and techniques you developed are getting through to another creative, that your leaving a real impression that might outlive you, and that they might design something incredible with those ideas. I was taught my most favorite lessons through radical ideas and I think the world of the people that taught me them, so I guess I’m feeling the flip side of that coin.
Past and present creative icons: This is a funny one because I tend not to look up to a lot of people. I like to think I look across far off in the distance. But I’ll tell you right now, barely any of them are in the same field as I am. That might be indicative of what I think of the “icons” in my field (to be honest I’d rather look at the stuff some of my colleagues have made then look at a Paris runway show). But I find that the people I admire are all scientists, writers, architects, comedians- Richard Feynman, Arther C. Clarke, Buckminster Fuller, and Bill Hicks to name a few.
Place where I feel the most creative: In my living room alone. Really, it’s while I’m waking up but that’s using the term “place” very loosely.
Favorite creative outlet: Logo design or in a larger sense brand identification; that is turning a person into a brand and vise versa. It’s quick compared to a show collection or organization building (which is just always ongoing). It’s quick to the point where the best work is minimal and clean, boiling something down to its essence. That’s what i’m really good at.
What inspires me to create: Nothing inspires me to create. Uncreative people need inspiration; that’s just silly. Everything all the time is lending a hand in the creative process which is always on. If I’m awake I’m technically designing. If I had to say it’s just basic shapes and lines, everything is made up of basic shapes and lines. Design = deciding lines.
If money weren’t an option I would: Do exactly what I’m doing now. I’d keep designing the world around me and at the very end invite a select few in to marvel at it’s glory. Obviously!
Bio: Designer, couturier and artist, Elsa Ebada, was born in Saudi Arabia of Egyptian descent, migrating to Canada in 1995. Elsa had an unconventional perspective towards clothing given that the places he grew up in displayed a different outlook on dress code, style, and norms. Following his studies in history, political science, animation, and illustration, Elsa graduated from the Richard Robinson Academy of Clothing Design as a Couturier. According to Elsa, what you wear does not make you, but it does say something about you in an interpretive way.
In November of 2013, Elsa, alongside a team of dedicated designers, artists, and community members dedicated to the cause of elevating the Ottawa arts scene, inaugurated Ottawa’s First Independent Designer Event titled The Indie. In December of 2014, Elsa founded a not-for-profit organization named the INDI (independent novel design initiative) to carry on the purpose of the first show and elaborate on it through other mediums and genres.
For more creator profiles visit shiftermagazine.com/creators
