'With a heavy heart,' Nunavik Creations closes its doors after 15 years

Celebrated Nunavik clothing and design companyNunavik Creations Inc.is closing down its operations.

Makivik Corporation, which owns the Inuit-run company, says that despite efforts to market and publicize the clothing, Nunavik Creations has been losing money for several years.

"It's with a heavy heart that we have to make this difficult decision," Makivikvice president Andy Moorhouse said in a news release.

Over its 15-year run, Nunavik Creations developed award-winning traditional and contemporary fashion products based on traditional Inuit designs. Much of the clothing used fur and sealskin.

The company also gained international profile for producing 100 handmade parkas, sewed by Inuit seamstresses, to outfit the Arctic Winter Games team heading to Alaska in 2014.

• Nunavik Creations sews made-to-order parkas for 100

Nunavik Creations is based in Ville St. Laurent, just outside of Montreal, but soldproducts online across Canada and in a boutique in Kuujjuaq.

About 10 people worked for the company, full and part-time at the time of closure, inKuujjuaq,Inukjuak, and in Montreal.

Makivik says it plans to keep the tannery in Kuujjuaq open to provide a place for hunters to send their skins. It's currently conducting an inventory of the remaining products and other company assets.