Addy Lindell is a textile artist and fashion designer based in Kangiqliniq (Rankin Inlet), NU. Lindell’s popular online shop, Akpaliapik’s creations, showcases her sewing projects, which range from summer to winter outerwear, including jackets and parkas.
As a child, Lindell was very picky with the kind of garments she wore, and wanted to learn sewing for herself. She started her practice around 2019, later opening Akpaliapik’s creations in 2021. Lindell developed her skills through a community of resources: she credits fellow Kangiqliniq designer, Corinne Pilakapsi, for teaching her how to sew, and also received lessons from her own mother and her partner’s mother, later attending a community sewing program to further build the foundation of her practice. Victoria’s Arctic Fashion, a contemporary Inuit fashion label run by Victoria Kakuktinniq, is one of the inspirations for both her ambition and her beautiful designs.
In Lindell’s work, wintertime outwear truly blossoms. “I find that I can make more designs for a winter jacket than a summer jacket,” she says. “Winter is my favourite season.” [1] Colour-blocking designs, intricate patterns, and careful details—such as unique pocket and zipper styles—work together to achieve a distinctive sense of fashion and personality. A winter parka from 2023 uses contrasting colour blocks of navy blue and sandy beige, creating a narrowing effect at the torso and broadening appearance at the shoulders, highlighted by a stylistic pattern of reflective material at thoughtful, practical locations. Spring/summer styles pop as well—a summer jacket in a bright tan is accented with black outline trim, with sleeves that transition to a bright floral motif at the elbow. A project from 2022 uses similar colour-blocking techniques with a more minimalistic, black and white leather look—her own take on the modern moto jacket.
As her practice continues to grow, Lindell says the dream of becoming a big fashion label Victoria's Arctic Fashion comes and goes. But she does hope to one day give back to the community that taught her so much, teaching her skills and passing them forward to the next generation by “providing programs to learn how to make jackets from start to finish,” like the program that taught her. She even aspires to make her favourite season, winter, as warm as possible for everyone: “Back home I would want to start a program where…every winter or two…I can give out 100 or more jackets to people who need them,” she says.
This Profile was made possible through support from RBC Emerging Artists.