Brian Hill (businessman)

Brian Hill is a Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder and the former executive chair of Vancouver-based clothing company Aritzia. After the opening of its first location in 1984, the company has grown steadily in its forty years of operation, servicing a demographic of young Canadian women and employing more than 2,300 people. Aritzia sets its itself part by designing and producing its many in house brands including: TNA, Talula, Babaton, Wilfred, Wilfred Free, Community, Le Fou, La Notte, Sunday Best, Paradise Mine, The Castings, SIXELEVEN and Auxiliary.

Early life

Family

Brian Hill was raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada by his father Jim Hill, the founder of the Canadian luxury retailer Hills of Kerrisdale. Throughout his adolescence, Hill worked in his father's retail store. He learned the retail business under the mentorship of his father and his uncle, Forbes Hill.

Education

Following his graduation from high school, he attended the bachelor of commerce program at Queen's University. After poor grades caused him to flunk out of Queen's commerce program, he switched majors and graduated from Queen's faculty of economics. Upon graduation, Hill moved back home to Vancouver to launch his business career.

Business career

Aritzia

In 1984, Hill and his brother Ross opened the first Aritzia boutique store at Oakridge Centre, a shopping mall on the West Side of Vancouver, BC. Hill claimed that he saw a niche gap in the clothing market, which he intended to fill with high quality clothing with affordable price points lying somewhere between luxury clothing retailers geared towards adolescent Canadian females and young middle-class Canadian women and the trendy retailers for young Canadian girls. Aritizia's six private in-house brands—Wilfred, TNA, Talula, Sunday Best, Community and Babaton accompanied by their two accessory brands SIXELEVEN and Auxiliary—are responsible for generating 80 percent of the company's sales. Near the end of the 1990s, Aritzia was expanded nationally across Canada, and then in 2005, it made forays into the United States. Current American cities with Aritzia boutiques include Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston and New York City. Aritzia has continuously expanded to 105 locations across North America after being in business for four decades.

Philanthropy

In 2007, Hill's wife, Andrea Thomas Hill, founded the organization Cause We Care, a foundation designed to provide support to single mothers in the Vancouver area who may be struggling to provide for their children. Aritzia is a sponsor and advocate of the organization. Hill and his wife support the BC Children's Hospital Foundation and the Vancouver Art Gallery.