The former model, 22, owns the exposed-brick-and-pipe boutique 80-20 with partner and Parsons design school grad Anthony Castro, whom he met through a Dolce & Gabbana assignment in 2003.
The store is named after the iconic New York City area code and, accordingly, Walhovd has Big Apple dreams. “I came into this business to expand and grow quite quickly,” he says. “I want to have more locations; I want to expand my 212 line; I want to start wholesaling that and get more internationally known.”
Shortly after being discovered in 2003, Walhovd decided to move to New York with $500 in his pocket. Though he found immediate success as a model, he had no illusions of a lifelong career in the industry and used the experience to take advantage of the exposure to design. After furthering his business skills as an intern at Lidi design house in 2006, he pulled the chute on modelling and moved back to Vancouver, sinking his earnings into 212 and his clothing line.
“I was doing it since I was 17. It’s a weird business. It has its benefits, but it has its negatives as well,” he says of his decision to leave modelling. “You get to travel around, you get to meet interesting people and it opens your eyes to a lot of things, but you have a sense of detachment; you don’t really have a solid foundation. I wanted something more – something that could benefit my future.”
Banking on Vancouver’s relatively untapped fashion market, Walhovd and Castro sank $60,000 and $20,000, respectively, into the 11,000-square-foot space on Cordova Street. These days the store generates up to $25,000 in sales per month – offering hard-to-find brands such as Chinese Laundry, the Rise and Fall, and Maria Bonita, along with their custom-designed in-house brand, 212.