Child of the Beauce region, Rachel grew up with a sewing machine constantly perched on the corner of the kitchen table. She heard her mother and her aunts talk about sewing for hours on end, and saw them rush into the fabric stores like kids on Christmas morning. Sewing was their passion; Rachel inherited it.
While completing a technical course on the art of clothing in Quebec City, the young seamstress met a tall and handsome Islander who was also in town for his studies. Under his charms, life took an unexpected turn. At the end of their studies, they jumped in Rachel's old Plymouth Fury, a gift from her father, and headed for the Magdalen Islands together.
Rachel had found her man. Having never seen the sea, she was also about to fall in love with an environment and a lifestyle that would suit her perfectly.
When she first heard that Égide was a sealer, Rachel didn't know what to think about it. At the time, she only knew seal hunting from the gruesome picture painted by the animal rights groups.
Thirty years later, sitting at her sewing machine in Pointe-aux-Loups, she works surrounded by various fabrics, leather and sealskin. In her workshop, on a backdrop of seascapes and quiet skylines, she cuts and sews with passion, pride and respect.
Without this passion, she couldn't have made it. Sealskin is expensive and extremely hard to work, and still today, there's much left to do to advocate in favour of seal hunting. Regardless of the bad press, Rachel knows where her values and beliefs stand. When she first got to the Maggies, her father-in-law, who used to hunt, brought her on the cliffs to observe the seal's patch on the ice. She listened to his stories and her mind was made up.
Since then, she knows how the Madelinots are adamant about using everything the animal has to offer. The meat, the fat, the oil, the fur - everything is treated responsibly.
Everything she creates is handmade here, on the Magdalen Islands. Her pieces are original, modern and of the highest quality. Along with her family and her team, Rachel contributes to this wave of support which celebrates the valour and bravery of the many hunters risking their lives to uphold our traditions. For her stance on the matter and the great beauty of her many creations, Rachel Drouin deserves our full respect.
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