About
Deborah Wazny has owned and operated Savoir Faire Marketplace since 2010 when her retail storefront opened in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Her own Savoir Faire (translated as “Know How”) combines her eye for design, and experience as a retail manager (among other various occupations), with her reverence for the past. Using these, she materialized her creative proclivities into a warm and welcoming retail outlet for Manitoba and Canadian artisans, herself included.
Deborah channels her passion for arrangement, and “waste not, want not” practicality into a wide array of elegant and playful products, all handcrafted from “pre-loved” materials. From cozy woolens to eye-catching glass decorations, there is no end to the creations expertly cobbled together from repurposed finds.
Deborah’s fervor for design blossomed from an early age. As she describes it:
“I have loved design since an early age and have been creating one thing or another, starting at about the age of 4 or 5 when I busied myself creating a new wardrobe for my “paper dolls”. Once my mother would allow me to sit at her treadle sewing machine, I moved on to fabric clothes for my Barbie and other dolls.
As years passed every aspect of my love for design grew. With no professional training, I kept busy creating my own clothing, designing house plans and creating decor items for the home, as well as helping friends and family with interior design ideas.”
The opening of the boutique is when Savoir Faire was born and Deborah’s journey as a professional creator began. In 2016, she closed her retail storefront and took her creations on the road, showcasing them at various farmers markets and larger indoor craft shows across Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
Working out of her home in Winnipeg, she gives new life to items that might otherwise find themselves in the landfill. Whether it’s old board from a toppling barn, or a cracked coffee mug, there is almost always a reason to keep something. Their beauty and value doesn’t diminish just because they can no longer fulfill their original purpose. Deborah is able to see their potential, and transform into something that can keep on giving.
And this process is something that continues to give back to her as well:
To this day, my favourite part of the design process is the selection of alternative materials and selecting colours and patterns whether in fabrics, glass, wood or woolens – Creating the most attractive frames, garden art and warm winter wear as possible.