Christine’s Biography
Christine Morton Biography
Born in Scotland, Christine Morton, was the youngest of three daughters. Her mother was a homemaker whom she remembers as elegant and always ensuring the three girls were well-dressed. Her father, an entrepreneur (he introduced skylights to Vancouver), was supportive of her aspirations, guiding her business acumen. While both laid firm foundations, it was the layers of antique lace carefully folded in her maternal grandmother’s dresser — drawers overflowing with bows, ribbons, buttons, and delicate late handkerchiefs that cultivated Christine’s early vision and launched her career. The life-long
love affair began.
In 1959, when Christine was eight, the family moved to Canada – the three girls arriving in dresses, hats, and gloves – and settled in Vancouver where she soon picked up a sewing needle and began making doll clothes. During her teens, she worked at Elle Fabric on Seymour Street which enabled her to indulge her passion and grow her knowledge of fine fabrics, with a particular penchant for lace and silk. After high school, Christine started a two-year basic design course, but the program closed after a year – enough time for her to learn patternmaking and confirm her desire to design.
Throughout her teens and 20s, she scoured shops, antique markets, and estate sales in search of lace. She also collected vintage lingerie from the Edwardian and Victorian periods – bloomers, lace tops and combination sets along with gowns from the 1930s.
At the age of 22, Christine founded her first company out of her basement with a friend from Elle, Jackie Warnock. Their first contract was sewing Raggedy Ann and Andy costumes for Santa’s helpers at Eaton’s. Simultaneously, Christine was designing Edwardian-inspired blouses, tunics, and dresses into which she incorporated her antique lace. Describing them as expensive even then, she wanted to make her designs accessible, so she began to branch out. Starting with smaller silk pieces like camisoles and teddies, Christine incorporated her beloved lace into each piece.
For the next decade, she focused on lingerie, adding bridalwear in 1983 when she designed her own gown for marriage to David Farris. At the same time, she began her family – three children born in quick succession in the 80s – while her business grew rapidly.
Over the past 50 years, Christine, the brand, and the woman, moved with the times adapting to the demands of the marketplace while charting her own distinct path.
In 2019, Christine lost her beloved David who had been her most ardent supporter, but her commitment to the Christine brand never wavered. Two years later, she welcomed her first grandchild, a girl, who at 18 months is already beginning to play amidst her grandmother’s lace and silk, captivated by the textures.