There is always a moment, before the studio, before the colour decisions, before any of it, where the new collection exists as a feeling: themes and ideas I cannot yet name.
It is something like recognition. I will see a colour in a garden, or a shape in a photograph, or a quality of light on a particular afternoon, and something in me will register it the way you register a face you've known for years. It's already familiar. It was just waiting to become a piece of work.
Key Takeaways
- Inspiration at Suzi Roher begins before the studio. It accumulates in torn magazine pages, fabric samples, and written-down words, seeping in through proximity rather than study.
- Each design builds in layers, starting from a single image and moving toward a vision that only becomes clear once you arrive at it.
- Some images are large enough to live on both a scarf and a tee. The same source behaves differently in each context. That difference isn't a compromise.
It Starts Before It Starts
I keep everything. Torn pages from old magazines. Postcards bought at museum shops and never sent. Photographs I've taken in cities I haven't revisited in ages. Fabric samples. Textures. The word 'cerulean' written down because I liked the way it felt to write it. Or a perfect turn of phrase.
None of these are references in the design-school sense. They don't get pinned to a board and studied. They live in the studio and seep in gradually, the way all genuine influences do: without announcement, through proximity.
The Layers
At some point the inspiration starts in a single photo or visual and slowly builds in layers that add colour, texture, words, feeling. Each layer moves toward the final vision. A vision we only know once we get there.
The graphic that ends up on a scarf or a tee has usually gone through this process many times. Each iteration is a question: is this still the image? Is this closer? Have I said what needed to be said?
When the answer is yes, you know it. Walking the line between beautiful and relentless. There is a quality of resolution in a finished image that is unmistakable. Not because it can't be improved, but because improving it would change what it is.
Why the Same Image Lives on Different Things
Some images are large enough to live in more than one form. When I design a scarf, I am sometimes designing an image that will also become a tee. Not because it is efficient to do so, but because some ideas naturally take two shapes.
A scarf moves and folds and changes depending on how it's tied. The colours shift with each fold. A tee holds the image flat. The same source image behaves completely differently in each context. That difference is not a compromise. It is part of how I understand the work.
What the Studio Looks Like
My husband Michael works with me on design. He has a different eye, more architectural, more interested in structure, where I tend toward the whimsical and feminine. The work benefits from that friction. A collection that only reflected one perspective would be thinner.
The studio is in Toronto. There is a great deal of natural light. There are far too many things on every surface. It is a workspace that has accumulated years of making, and it shows.
On Patience
The thing I would most want to tell someone who is just beginning to make things: the image knows what it is before you do. Your job is to keep working until you can see it clearly. That is not a fast process. It is, however, the only one that produces anything worth keeping.
The Suzi Roher design process builds from observation gathered over months, sometimes years, before a collection formally begins. Colours noticed in gardens, shapes found in old photographs, fragments of language written down for the way they feel: these accumulate without a brief or a deadline. That accumulation is the work. The studio decisions, the colour choices, the final graphic on a scarf or tee, these are the last step in a process that started long before anyone picked up a pencil.
The scarves and tees in this collection came from that process. We hope they feel like it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What inspires the Suzi Roher designs?
Inspiration doesn't come from a single source. It accumulates over time through observation: colours in gardens, shapes in old photographs, fragments of language written down for the way they feel. These gather in the studio over months before a collection begins to take form.
How long does it take to develop a single design?
Each graphic goes through many iterations, often over several months. The process involves layering colour, texture, and feeling onto a starting image until the design reaches a point of resolution. That moment, when improving the image would change what it is, is when the work is done.
Why do some images appear on both a scarf and a tee?
Some images are large enough to exist in more than one form. A scarf folds and moves, shifting colour with each tie. A tee holds the same image flat. The same source graphic behaves completely differently across the two contexts. That difference is part of the design thinking, not an afterthought.
Suzi Roher has designed scarves, belts, and accessories in Toronto since 1983. She works from a studio and store in the city, dressing women who know what they like.
