Welcome to our Designer Profile, where we celebrate the brilliance of Canadian designers shaping the fashion landscape. From coast to coast, we’re spotlighting the creative minds redefining style with innovation, craftsmanship, and a distinctly Canadian touch. Join us as we explore their inspirations, journeys, and the impact they’re making on the world of fashion.
Meet Daniel Torjman, the Founder and Creative Director of 18 Waits
Website: www.18waits.com
Instagram/ Social Handles: @18waits, @hopperhunter
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I am the founder and creative director of 18 Waits – a Toronto-based menswear and children’s wear brand (which goes by the name Hopper Hunter). While our primary focus is menswear, women love our clothing too!
I’ve been running 18 Waits for 18 years now. Prior to starting 18 Waits, I lived and worked in New York City and worked in the fashion industry, which is where I first got my training and honed my skills.
I moved to NYC from Vancouver to attend FIT (the Fashion Institute of Technology). Next, I worked in the industry at a very cool, independent label called Rogan. I just loved the brand and became very good friends with the founder/designer, Rogan Gregory. This is where I really learned the nuts and bolts of the fashion business – and where I started to formulate what I wanted to do and what I wanted 18 Waits to become. I absolutely love what I do, and work really hard at trying to get it just right. 18 Waits isn’t just a clothing brand. We’re a lifestyle brand – and it’s woven through (pardon the pun) quite literally everything I do in my life.
What inspires you?
So much! To me, 18 Waits isn’t just about clothing. It’s a way of life – a lifestyle and a mentality. I have a passion for many things including music, nature, art, film, and photography, to name a few. 18 Waits acts as my vehicle to express these passions, collaborate and immerse myself in the world of “creating”, which I love. In doing 18 Waits, I get to work with photography, video, music, jewelry, clothing, graphic design – so many wonderful outlets – and most importantly, with so many wonderful people. That’s what it comes down to. I love doing what I’m doing and being able to “work” with the people I do. Creating 18 Waits was something that I had to do. Too many ideas to share to not do it.
Tell us the story behind your brand/ art.
To me, there are many important things in life – many of them are small. But when you pay attention to the details and the small things, it opens up a world of beauty for the bigger things. The magic is in the details. 18 Waits is a lifestyle of having fun, enjoyment and love. It’s a common ground for like-minded individuals. It is a lifestyle as opposed to simply a brand or fashion label. It’s a way of life inspired by a joie de vivre and an appreciation of the finer things in life, like an old pair of leather boots or a child’s painting.
18 Waits has an old European mentality which, at the same time, takes inspiration from nature and the natural flow of the earth. It is a lifestyle which adheres just as much to Parisian cafés as it does to old English pubs, 1920s New York speakeasies, wood cabins by the lake, old upright pianos, poetry, literature, and 1970s rock and roll music. It’s about friends and family, and the time you spend with them. It’s a casual, relaxed lifestyle.
At the same time, it’s also about having everything perfect. It’s about finding the right reasons to live your life. That’s what 18 Waits is to me and what we’re trying to convey in the clothing, jewelry, videos, photos and various projects on which we’re constantly working.
What’s one piece of advice you would give someone starting out in your field?
Great question. The landscape has drastically changed since I started. (We didn’t even have a website, and Instagram didn’t exist!) I would say to try and learn as much as possible. I know that sounds obvious, but really make a concerted effort to learn as much as possible before diving into anything too seriously. The risks are too high right now. The economy isn’t what it used to be – it’s a lot less forgiving right now. Talk with as many people as you can and learn. Ask questions and don’t be shy about it. Ask people in the industry if you can meet with them to pick their brains and get some advice. Better yet, find a mentor. Mistakes will always be made along the way (go easy on yourself!). But you can definitely minimize and mitigate those mistakes with the right planning, organization and information. The old adage “knowledge is power” is true in this case.
Another important note is to know in advance that very little goes as planned and it’s essential to be able to pivot, shift gears, and put out fires. We all have plans and visions as to how we’d like things to go. For better or for worse, life has other plans. So just knowing that there will always be unforeseen obstacles to overcome on a very regular basis is a helpful note. As mentioned, go easy on yourself – often times these things are outside of your control. The vital point is how you deal with them. That’s a hard lesson I learned along the way. I no longer get angry. Now my reaction to “fires” is twofold: “How do we fix this?” and “How can we try to ensure that this doesn’t happen again?”
What does 2025 hold for you?
Hope. I’m generally an optimistic, positive person. While 2025 was off to a “rocky start”, I remain hopeful. What’s happening politically and economically right now is so, so unfortunate (understatement!) – but I do feel like there are silver linings to be found, and that some meaningful good will come of this for Canadians and our great country. We should have always been buying Canadian. We should always be supporting each other, helping each other and generally being kind to one another. I found that to be a silver lining during the pandemic as well – we were “all in this together”. Now, more than I’ve ever seen in my lifetime, Canadians are coming together and we’re the strong, proud country that we should be.
