February of 2021
When it started
SORA means sky in Japanese (空), so it seemed fitting for the idea
The overall story is 2 collage room mates decided to make an apparel brand, and since one of them was a big anime fan, it was obvious that there were no good anime apparel brands out there. So it was decided to make one. And then it started
(Spring of 2021) First collection t-shirts + 1 hoodie- were fully designed by 2 founders. Was sampled by the only investment of $400 out of the pocket money of one of the founders
Summer of 2021
SORA started with a small first collection and a clear vision, but building attention from zero was never going to happen overnight.
When the first release did not gain much traction, the team kept going and started developing a second collection. During that process the pressure started to build, the team dynamic shifted, and one of the founders stepped away. It could have easily ended there.
Instead, the collection was finished and released.
Not long after, the designs started picking up attention on TikTok. More people started discovering the brand, the energy around SORA began to shift, and that second collection became the first real sign that something bigger was possible. It marked the brand’s first real momentum and brought the team back together to keep building.
Fall-Winter of 2022
As SORA grew, so did the need for a real space to create.
Our first office was an abandoned apartment above a pawnshop on Church Street in Toronto. Rent was $500 a month, which at the time was all we could afford. The team had grown from two people to around five, and that space became the center of everything. It was where samples were stored, ideas were built, content was created, and the brand started becoming more real.
The space was far from perfect. It was old, dusty, and at times shared with mice. In the sample room, one of the founders slept on a blue couch for several months while the business was still being held together by sacrifice, long hours, and reinvesting every dollar back into growth.
It was not glamorous, but it was a major step. SORA was no longer just an idea. It was becoming a real team, a real operation, and a brand people were starting to pay attention to.
Spring of 2023
With more attention came bigger challenges.
One of the hardest parts of that stage was figuring out production and finding suppliers that matched the standard we were trying to build toward. To keep moving, some of the earliest batches were made by hand inside the office.
That season was full of trial and error, long nights, and learning every part of the process up close. It was the phase that pushed SORA from simply having ideas into actually understanding how to build product with intention. A lot of the foundation was built there.
Summer 2023
As momentum started picking up, the brand started opening up.
What began with simpler pieces started evolving into something more defined. SORA moved beyond basic tees and hoodies and began building a wider product line with more detail, stronger silhouettes, and a clearer point of view.
This was the point where the brand started to feel less like an early project and more like a world people wanted to be part of. The identity became sharper, the community got stronger, and the vision started showing up in a bigger way.
Present days
What started with two people, a small collection, and a lot of uncertainty has grown into a team of more than 20 with a much larger office and a stronger foundation.
Every stage built the next one. The early setbacks built resilience. The small office built the team. The long nights built the process. The first attention built belief.
SORA is still growing, still evolving, and still building on everything that got us here.