Not too long ago, Alex MacLean was selling hoodies out of the trunk of his car on the Acadia University campus.

Now, his East Coast Lifestyle label is a runaway success that’s set to follow in the footsteps of Canadian clothing companies like Herschel and Westbeach. The brand now has a staff of 25 and its apparel is available at 80 retail locations across Canada. To date, the company has sold more than 650,000 products to customers in 35 countries. Not bad for what started as a class project.

The DNA of East Coast Lifestyle is simple: it’s about being proud of where you’re from. For the 23-year-old MacLean, a surfer, wakeboarder and sailor, that’s the Maritimes; which serves as the inspiration for the brand’s logo – an anchor – and its subsequent limited-edition collections that feature lighthouses, sharks and other nautical symbols.

Read the complete article in Marketing Magazine.

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