About

SONYA LEE

Sonya Lee operates with a focus on structure over expression.

The work does not rely on narrative or symbolism to communicate meaning. It is built to be understood through contact — how it performs, how it wears, and how it holds up over time. Materials are selected for their ability to get used. They are never static or complete, but as surfaces that continue to change. Marks are not corrected. Wear is not concealed. These are not imperfections, but part of the object’s record.

There is no attempt to resolve the work into a finished image. It remains open – shaped by use, and defined gradually by the person who carries it. What remains is what has been carried forward.

THE DESIGNER

Stephanie Ibbitson was born and raised in Toronto. An iconoclast thinker and student of industrial design at OCAD, drawn to a Bauhaus-influenced approach while wanting a career in fashion — a tension between the pragmatic and the expressive that shapes her work.

In 2014, she began hand making the bags she wanted to use. The earliest designs were a reaction to her own disappointment in what the industry was offering — driven by a need to see things done a certain way.

Sonya Lee has evolved with her through new cycles of life and actualization — each informing the other. In 2022, the company moved into its current studio and hired its first employee. Today, she leads a team of five, continuing to design and direct the brand.

THE STUDIO

87 Wade Ave.
Toronto, Ontario

Visits are available by appointment.

CONTACT

info@sonyalee.co

press: pr@rxstudio.co