Montreal creative Nolan White wants to be the Anthony Bourdain of Canadian design | Canada Voices

With more than 336,000 followers on TikTok, Montreal’s Nolan White has established himself as an influential name in men’s fashion and design, working alongside major brands such as Madewell and Ray-Ban and consulting for creative heavyweights such as Aaron Levine.

Now, the 24-year-old social media star is making the jump to longer-form content, with an effort to introduce his audience to Canada’s thriving scene of contemporary artisans.

White’s new YouTube show, In House, created alongside producer Abby White and Désole Collective, wants to do for Canadian designers what Anthony Bourdain did for chefs. The first season features seven roughly 15-minute episodes, each highlighting Montreal-based makers working in various mediums – Stamátios Fragos‘ wooden lamps, Gideons’ handmade jeans and stained glass studio La Maison Vitrailliste among them.

We spoke with White about the new show, the importance of shopping locally and spreading the word about Canadian craftspeople.

Can you walk me through what the show is about and why you wanted to make it?

I wanted to make a series looking at artisans and creatives that are very close to their craft – individuals in Canada that are very careful and considered with their design processes. We want to look at their practice, their perspectives, the ways they work, how they got into what they do. I’ve used Bourdain as an inspiration.

The idea is to make the world of design more approachable, and to help people understand where the things they own come from and what it means to be careful about craft and production.

I feel like there’s a big gap between what we consume and the people who make it. But often locally made or small-batch designs come with a bigger price tag than mass-produced wears.

Something I’m trying to communicate with the series is that when you spend locally and support artisans – even if it’s more money – that money is circulating within your own economy. If you’re spending money with a local artisan, then they’re going to spend that money at the local grocery store and the lumber shop where they’re getting stuff for their practice, and so on.

Whereas, if you’re spending money on Temu, that money is getting siphoned out of the Canadian economy into an offshore economy. And it’s likely not going to return here.

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The first season of In House is based on designers in and around Montreal. Why go local?

The show is something I’m fully funding myself. I don’t have the means to fly all around Canada right now. But even then, I have close to 100 people in Montreal that I could have done an episode on.

There’s a lot of interest in covering the American fashion scene or the Italian design scene. When I talk to people abroad about what’s going on back home, both in design centres such as Montreal but also in more rural places across Canada, they don’t really think about our country in terms of design or handcraft. But we have a rich history and an active contemporary scene. I just don’t see enough people talking about it.

When I’m talking about fashion or art in Canada to non-Canadians, a lot of it gets reduced to flannels, poutine and Tim Hortons.

People look for associations in fashion. They look for national identity. If you look at America, Polo Ralph Lauren is the definition of a lot of the American scene. There are American design movements that are ubiquitous in pop culture. Same thing in the Italian world. We think of Giorgio Armani. We think of postmodern furniture.

I don’t think we have much of a national identity outside the typical hokey Canadiana. So on the international scene, there’s not a lot for people to make associations with, in terms of seeing a great designer and how their designs are inherently Canadian. But from my side, I do see that. I look at the works that come from people out of Canada and Montreal and see how they’re influenced by the environment they grew up in.

A great example of this is our sixth episode. Igor Zigor is a designer based out of Montreal. All of the wood he uses in his frames and furniture comes from his family’s farm. He also makes sculptures out of pine sap. And when you look at what he does and the materials, it’s very Canadian. Very Québécois.

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What do you hope viewers will take away from the show?

There’s different take-aways for different people. In the age of AI and a lot of white-collar jobs being replaced, I think it’s important to show today’s youth that it’s not only viable but noble to want to make things with your hands. For people who are simply watching out of interest, I hope they learn and develop more of an appreciation for how things are made and why things might be more expensive. Not to resent the fact that those things are more expensive, but to appreciate the fact that they’re more expensive for a reason.

Finally, for people who have the means to afford these things, I hope they consider buying them. There’s a longstanding tradition of people who have the means supporting craftspeople. That’s the reason why our museums are filled with such beautiful objects. So, if you have the means to fill your Muskoka lake house with beautiful, handcrafted items that were made by Canadians, I think you should do that.

In House premieres on YouTube on Aug. 2. This interview has been edited and condensed.