Bojana Sentaler
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Bojana Sentaler | |
|---|---|
 Bojana Sentaler | |
| Born | 1984 (age 41–42) |
| Occupation | Fashion Designer |
| Known for | Luxury Outerwear |
| Website | sentaler |
Bojana Sentaler is a Canadian fashion designer, Founder, President and Creative Director of Sentaler since 2009. She is known for her line of luxury alpaca outerwear and accessories.[1]
Born in Belgrade, Serbia, Sentaler emigrated to Canada when she was eight years old.[2] She attended the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto and graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree in Marketing and Finance in 2006.[3]
She began her career working for a corporate beauty brand. After a short time, she left her position to pursue being an entrepreneur. In 2008, she traveled to Dubai and began a small business creating economic investment reports on the MENA region for a UK newspaper.[4] In 2009, she traveled to Peru where she discovered alpaca fabric and launched the Sentaler Canadian luxury outerwear brand.[5]
When the time came to choose a career path, Sentaler chose to focus on the business for stability instead of attending a fashion school.[6] After graduating from the Schulich School of Business, Sentaler took a position in sales and marketing with a corporate beauty brand.[7] She found the corporate environment too restrictive for her creativity and entrepreneurial spirit. This led her to resign and travel to Dubai to explore opportunities in fashion.[8]
In 2008, while living in Dubai, she worked on economic investment reports on emerging markets, particularly the MENA region for a UK newspaper.[9] While interviewing various corporate CEO's and Saudi sheiks, Sentaler had the opportunity to interview Karl Lagerfeld, who had recently designed luxury villas in Dubai.[10] After the interview, Sentaler expressed her dreams of becoming a fashion designer. Lagerfeld remarked, "You either have it or you don't, and if you have it, go for it."[11] After discovering alpaca fabric in Peru and spending time studying its unique properties, Sentaler decided to launch a luxury outerwear brand. She designed her first seven "dream coats" and founded the SENTALER brand in 2009 in Toronto.[8]
In 2015, her brand gained national attention when Sophie Grégoire Trudeau wore a white Sentaler coat to her husband's swearing-in ceremony.[12] Her coats have also been worn by Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton.[13][14] In 2021, she launched Sentaler Men, a menswear line.[15]