Sleep Shirt celebrates its 10th birthday with a new, limited-edition line of staples

It was a chance encounter that led Alexandra Suhner Isenberg to launch a sleepwear brand. After she came upon a Victorian nightshirt at the Spitalfields Market in London, the Central Saint Martins grad from Vancouver decided to recreate her own and the Sleep Shirt was born. Available in varying lengths and fabrics, the classic Sleep Shirt design remains a bestseller in the line, which has grown to include beachwear, resort wear and day dresses, as well as nighties, lounge pants and pyjama sets, all designed and produced in British Columbia and available in extended sizing. “At the end of the day, the main focus is comfort and clothing that is designed to sleep in or at least to lounge in comfortably,” Suhner Isenberg says.

For the Sleep Shirt’s 10th anniversary this year, Suhner Isenberg revisited the notion of vintage sleepwear, drawing inspiration from pieces she found through a collector in France to create the limited-edition Archive by the Sleep Shirt collection. “It’s a nod to how the brand started but it’s different from the main collection,” she says. “We wanted to do something different and this was going back to the roots of finding the vintage nightshirt.” The five pieces in the collection all feature special details including pintucks, blouson sleeves and ruffled hems, as well as organic cotton lace.

While Suhner Isenberg takes seasonality into account with her collections, her main consideration is the comfort of each individual. “Sleep is so important and it’s also so enjoyable,” she says. “I think it’s nice to create an environment that makes sleep better.”

The Sleep Shirt, intothebedroom.com.