When it rains, orders pour in: Local raincoat designer thriving through bouts of wet weather

Nobody wants the amount of consistent rain and fog parts of the Avalon Peninsula have seen over the course of this month — except Maria Halfyard.

Halfyard is the founder of Mernini, and says business has been steady as people search for fashionable rain wear.

"I'm probably the only one in this province that is loving the rain," Halfyard said with a laugh during an interview with CBC Radio's Weekend AM.

Halfyard started the company, which sells full-length, brightly coloured raincoats, vests and recently launched rain hats, in 2020 following four years of market research. She had hoped to sell a shipment of 1,600 coats in her first year, but said she was blown away by what followed.

"We took off…we're selling thousands of them. They're just flying off the shelves," she said.

Halfyard said customers in Newfoundland and Labrador are still her biggest buyers, but she's seen growth in places like Ontario thanks to a connection with Today's Shopping Choices — formerly The Shopping Channel.

She's also been featured in British Vogue, Vanity Fair UK and more.

"We live in a province that has some of the worst weather in the world. And, you know, we know weather, so why not have a brand [of] outerwear that comes out of this province? And so I think they love the story, coming from an island on the Atlantic Ocean and how we just have so much resilience despite the weather," Halfyard said.

Canadian telelvision audiences will also soon see her coat in CBC's Saint-Pierre, as the coat is worn in the show by French actress Joséphine Jobert.

"To have a local production reach out and ask if they could have a Mernini raincoat in the show, I thought 'Yeah, they might have it on once or twice, but like in all of their publicity she's wearing that a lot. So it's going to be a very good publicity," she said.

Halfyard said she has plans to further grow the business across Canada and into international markets like the United Kingdom and United States.

It's tricky, she said — especially because she's largely still a one-person operation with a full-time job — but Halfyard said she's excited for the future.

"There was, like, a sweet spot where I could, you know, manage both...that sweet spot is starting to shift, so I am looking at the next step."

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