Where the Season Takes Shape: The Creative Minds Redefining Holiday Rituals

As the year draws to a close, the holidays invite us inward toward warmth, connection, and moments that linger. Across our sanctuaries, that feeling does not happen by chance. It is thoughtfully crafted by a collective of artists, designers, and changemakers who believe celebration can be both beautiful and responsible.

This season, 1 Hotels partnered with visionaries across Toronto, Seattle, San Francisco, and South Beach, each bringing their own perspective on creativity rooted in care. From Courtney Watkins’ commitment to circular style and Cora Hilts’ community-centered holiday market, to Karla Miranda’s reimagining of tradition through flavor and form, and BREAKFAST’s transformation of climate data into kinetic art, these collaborators invite us to see the season through a more intentional lens.

We sat down with each of them to explore what it means to create with purpose during the holidays and how their work mirrors what we are cultivating across our spaces. Through curated markets, immersive installations, and hands-on experiences, discover how this festive season comes to life in ways that feel grounded, expressive, and naturally inspired.
 

Courtney Watkins, Founder of Mine & Yours | Partner at 1 Hotel Toronto

Mine & Yours has grown into one of Canada’s leading luxury consignment destinations. What originally drew you into the world of pre-loved fashion, and how has that mission evolved over the last decade?

My interest in luxury resale began when I moved to Los Angeles at 17 to attend FIDM. What truly stayed with me was LA’s secondhand culture. I loved discovering unique, beautifully crafted designer pieces without the traditional retail markup, and it completely reshaped my view of luxury. 
When I returned to Vancouver to help run my family’s sawmill, a role far outside the fashion world, I gained an enormous amount of business and leadership experience. I knew if I could successfully run a company selling cedar I could do the same in the fashion industry, and that gave me the confidence to return to my passion. Mine & Yours was born from a vision to bring a curated, elevated, community-focused resale experience to Canada. 

Thirteen years later, our mission has grown but its core remains the same. We are here to make luxury more accessible, more sustainable, and to empower the community who shops with us. I truly believe resale is the future of fashion. The global secondhand fashion and luxury resale market is growing at a rate roughly three times faster than traditional new fashion, and analysts say that the resale market could reach as much as 360 billion dollars by 2030.

The festive season often inspires people to think more intentionally about what and how they gift. Why do you believe consignment and circular fashion are especially meaningful choices during the holidays?

The holidays can often trigger a lot of “shop everything and buy everything” energy, but every year we see a positive shift in consumer behaviour. Shoppers are making more intentional and conscious decisions, and resale is becoming a popular choice to meet their needs. What I love about circular fashion is that it offers a great alternative, something meaningful, thoughtful, and soulful instead of just another impulse buy. A pre-loved piece brings history, personality, and individuality. It feels curated and special. Whether you are gifting it to someone else or treating yourself, it is a more intentional way to shop. You can still have all of the gifts and none of the guilt. This holiday season, choosing consignment does not just feel good, it is a gift with purpose. It is a chance to find something unique, beautiful, and long lasting, while also reducing waste and honoring the craftsmanship and heritage of the piece.

Mine & Yours celebrates community, personal style, and sustainability values that deeply resonate with 1 Hotels. How does your partnership with 1 Hotel Toronto during our 12 Days of Festive reflect those shared principles?

Our partnership with 1 Hotel Toronto feels incredibly aligned because both brands believe in a version of luxury that is thoughtful, elevated, and community minded. We share a commitment to sustainability and to creating meaningful experiences that inspire people to live and shop more consciously. Through the 12 Days of Festive, we are bringing the world of pre-loved luxury into a setting that already champions environmental awareness and holistic design. Guests have the opportunity to engage with circular fashion in a fresh and inspiring way, discovering how seamlessly sustainability and luxury can coexist. It is a celebration of style with intention, which is at the heart of both our brands.

As people begin their holiday shopping, what’s one tip you’d share for making their gift-giving more sustainable—whether it’s choosing pre-loved pieces, embracing circular fashion, or simply shopping with more intention?

My biggest tip is to make a small change that can create a big impact. Whether it’s buying fewer but better pieces, supporting local businesses, or choosing items with real longevity, these thoughtful choices make holiday gifting feel more meaningful and far less wasteful. Instead of buying trinkets or small items just for the sake of having something to unwrap, consider teaming up with a friend or family member to give one special piece you know the recipient will truly love and use. With 83% of people now saying they are comfortable receiving second-hand gifts, embracing pre-loved or circular fashion is not only sustainable but also allows you to give something high-quality while getting more value for your budget.

Cora Hilts, Founder of Rêve En Vert | Partner at 1 Hotel Seattle

Curating this year’s Conscious Christmas Market at 1 Hotel Seattle brought together brands redefining what it means to give with purpose. When selecting partners, what guiding principles helped you identify craftsmanship that not only feels beautiful, but truly honors nature’s resources and the people behind the work? 

It was such a pleasure curating this Conscious Christmas Market - the brands that we have chosen each represent an industry that contributes so much to consumption, but the people behind these brands are making sure that's a positive thing and bringing value into supply chains and manufacturing. The brands we have brought in are working with artisans, natural and regenerative materials, organic ingredients, ethical production, family business and timeless style. I hope there will be something for everyone who wants to shop mindfully this holiday season!

Rêve En Vert has long championed thoughtful consumption. For guests exploring the market, how do you hope these purposeful pieces reshape the way we think about giving and what does a more conscious festive season look like to you?  

I think it's more important than ever that we support small businesses that are working with people and planet in mind. There is such a beauty in finding things that aren't mass produced nowadays, and giving a boost to independent designers who are helping to nurture creativity and sustainable production means we can all feel good about the economy we are contributing to. I very much hope that we can inspire people to question their shopping habits this holiday season so we make sure our funds are going to brands that have integrity and purpose, and are making things that are meant to last.

As we move into a season often marked by excess, what’s one mindful practice or perspective you personally return to that helps anchor your celebrations in sustainability and intention?

When I lived in London a sustainable fashion non-profit there came up with the thirty uses question that I have always loved when it comes to considering what to buy. You simply ask yourself before you purchase something if you will wear or use that item at least 30 times. If the answer is a no or a maybe, it's best to refrain from buying. It really just gives a great moment of pause to consider if you genuinely love something or believe that the recipient will genuinely love it. It's been incredibly useful for me to think about how I shop over the past few years and I hope this little bit of wisdom can help others!

Karla Miranda, Owner of Rivera’s Boulevard | Partner at 1 Hotel San Francisco

This year you’re leading a Gingerbread Greenhouse Workshop at 1 Hotel San Francisco, a festive twist that feels so aligned with your love of creativity and connection. What flavors inspired your festive event this year?

This year’s Gingerbread Greenhouse Workshop explores the balance between warmth and freshness that winter brings. Classic gingerbread flavors—molasses, ginger, cinnamon, clove, vanilla—set a familiar foundation, lifted by the quiet freshness of pine and winter greenery. Not a flavor in a literal sense, but a presence that shaped the palette and the houses themselves: cocoa powder as soil, translucent gelatin as windows, and greenery-like accents throughout.

As we head into the festive season, what’s one baking tip you love to share that helps home bakers slow down, enjoy the process, or bring a little extra magic to their holiday kitchen?

I always suggest reading the recipe in full before beginning, so the process can be approached in stages. Some elements can be prepared days in advance—whether that’s organizing ingredients or making a component like a filling or icing ahead of time, which takes the pressure off later. When the steps are thought through in advance, everything feels more relaxed, leaving space to enjoy the decorating rather than rush it.

Do you have a signature treat you love bringing to holiday parties?

I tend to think of eggnog as a flavor rather than a drink, and I enjoy working with it in different ways. Some years it becomes a softly spiced crème tart; other years, a panna cotta paired with seasonal fruit, or a simple cake that lets the flavor stand on its own. It’s a flavor I enjoy returning to each holiday season, just in slightly different forms.

BREAKFAST, Artists of Kinetic Climate | 1 Hotel South Beach

For guests encountering your work for the first time, can you share the origin story behind BREAKFAST and where people can experience your installations at 1 Hotel South Beach?

BREAKFAST began when I started noticing the world rapidly letting go of physical objects—stereos, books, cameras, flashlights, everything collapsing into screens and apps. It felt like we were losing a kind of tactile magic, and I saw an opening to build a bridge between our digital lives and our physical senses. What started as humble experiments in bringing data back into the real world slowly evolved, over sixteen years, into the kinetic, responsive artworks I create today.

At 1 Hotel South Beach, guests can experience several of these works as part of Kinetic Climate. The installations in the lobby and along the beach draw on real-time environmental data—heat, water, wind, carbon emissions—and translate those forces into physical motion. The goal is simple: to let people feel the world moving around them, not through a screen, but through art that exists and reacts in the space they’re standing in.

Miami Art Week overlaps with the start of the festive season, a time when people naturally pause and reflect. How did that sense of seasonal transition influence the way you designed these site-responsive installations for 1 Hotel South Beach?

While I wouldn’t say the work is tied to the festive season, it’s very much about reflection in the truest sense—literally and conceptually. Miami sits at the edge of climate change’s visible impact, and this project invites people to pause and feel those shifts through movement, light, and material. The mirrored and kinetic surfaces respond in real time, so what you see changes as the environment changes around you. It’s less about the calendar season and more about a collective moment of awareness—seeing the planet as something alive and reactive.

As we close out the year, is there one small practice or observation you hope guests take with them after experiencing your installations—something that helps them carry climate awareness into the new year?

If guests walk away realizing that climate change isn’t abstract—that it’s data you can literally see move, that’s enough. The work isn’t about preaching or instruction; it’s about translating invisible systems into something you can feel. My hope is that people leave with a sharper sense of connection to the world’s motion, its rhythm, fragility, and resilience to carry that awareness into how they live, travel, and consume. Awareness is the first step toward action.