A few years ago, high above the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Colombia, Brooke Wells found her bliss.
She had jetted off on an adventure of a lifetime with her boyfriend to “figure out what we were going to do with the rest of our lives.” And during their travels, they found a mountaintop village called Minca where fireflies lit up the skies, toucan birds sang their songs over coffee plantations, and waterfalls gushed into blue pools. “It was a magical place,” Wells remembers over a cup of tea at Nelson the Seagull in Vancouver’s Gastown. After years of working on design teams for local brands including Aritzia and Kit and Ace, she knew she wanted to create something that would be the truest representation of herself, a product of her explorations that could fit into every aspect of her life. Was there anything that would be useful for those nights in the woods, camping under the stars? Or those long road trips through the mountains? How about those naps on the beach, or simply for those day-long Netflix binges with a glass of wine in hand? Premium blankets were the answer. In an ode to the magical Colombian town that inspired her, Wells launched Minca in January 2018.
Born and raised in New Zealand, Wells learned firsthand about the textile industry from her parents’ clothing business, which gave her an appreciation for quality materials and an eye for design at an early age. When it came time to create Minca’s blankets, she knew she “wanted to use natural fibres that would function in the outdoors.” Designed in Vancouver (where she is now based) and made ethically in a boutique factory in Shanghai using traditional weaving techniques, Minca products are constructed using Australian merino wool.
The brand currently sells four blankets, including the lightweight Kokomo Tapestry and the ultra-soft Camp. Then there is the Bohemia, ready to tag along on the journey from mountaintop to seaside—a great Pacific Northwest choice. “My idea was if you go camping, you probably want something more durable,” Wells says. “Or, cuddled up at home or in a cabin, you want something a bit heavier, more luxurious.” Made of custom black-and-white yarn-dye stripes and temperature-regulating fibres, the Bohemia is Minca’s bestseller; inspired by traditional Mexican serapes, the versatile blanket is ornamented with elegant swinging tassels. From the parks of Vancouver to the mountains of Colombia, it keeps users comfortable so that each person can find the path to her own unique paradise—her own personal Minca.
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