Kevin Kent

Kevin Kent is the owner and president of Knifewear in Inglewood. His fascination with handcrafted Japanese knives began while he was working as sous-chef for the legendary chef Fergus Henderson at St. John restaurant in London, England. After moving back to Canada in 2007 he began selling knives out of a backpack from his bicycle. Today, Kent is still just as obsessed with Japanese knives as the day he first held one. He travels to Japan a couple times a year to meet with his blacksmith friends and drinks far too much sake. Each time he visits, he learns more about the ancient art of knife-making. Through this obsession, Knifewear has expanded to include five Knifewear stores in Calgary, Vancouver, Ottawa, and Edmonton. Plans are also underway to open a store in Kyoto, Japan. He refuses to confess how many Japanese knives he owns … but he admits the number is rather high. Follow Kevin on Twitter at @knifenerd and find out more about the stores at knifewear.com, and if you meet him in person, ask him to tell you his Lou Reed story.