Carrie Yap, founder of the Calgary-based millinery brand Yap Sister (so named because she has siblings), seems to have found her common ground when it comes to making connections. Through her slow fashion-focused label, Yap is able to intertwine the symbolism and storytelling vital to Asian communities and bring the past and present together in her designs. And through her work as an urban planner, she’s come to notice most palpably over the last year just how important the concept of community-building is. Interestingly, it’s the parameters of this vocation that set Yap off on a course that’s changed her outlook entirely.