“You know when you listen to a song and then you're just obsessed with it?”  Marie Sophie Lockhart—owner of Good for Nothing Embroidery—is recounting the story behind her stunning embroidered prayer jacket. Inspired by hip hop superstar Drake, this stitched piece acted as the catalyst that caused thousands of new followers, emails and texts to reach her within the span of a day.

Lockhart says, “I was coming home from work and heard [Drake’s] latest hit, in the cab. The next morning I woke up and did the praying hands jacket while listening to Drake and tagged him as a joke.” She admits thinking he would never see it, like it, or even re-post it on his Instagram, but he did that and more. Drake commissioned Lockhart to create customized denim and the very jacket inspired by his music. This viral publicity rapidly elevated Lockhart’s embroidery career into the spotlight.

Aesthetically speaking, her fashion roots take inspiration from the seventies. “I love everything about the 1970s,” Lockhart says. “It was such a time where music, love and art flourished … but I do try to modernize and update this inspiration and mix different eras together. Lockhart’s love of embroidery comes from an interest in creating something with her hands: “There’s nothing that equals the satisfaction of making something by yourself.”

She credits embroidery’s comeback in the fashion world to two factors—first the oft-heard statement about making old things new again by returning to traditionally folkloric practices from 1970s. Second, the very artisanal element of her work: “It’s imperfect,” she says. “People don’t want to wear H&M and Zara any more. They want something made by hand that’s ethical and not mass-produced, something unique and not the same as everyone else. They want to look different.”

Lockhart describes the process of taking on a new commission, as a delicate balance. “I like to keep freedom in my designs, but I also always try to make my customer happy,” adamantly stating that she refuses to work on projects she doesn’t believe in. The logistics of producing her commissioned pieces depends entirely on the size and quantity. “Hand embroidery takes a long time,” she says. “That’s what makes it so unique … between four to five hours per piece, maybe more.” 

Despite being busier than ever before, Lockhart works alone, excluding bigger projects, for which she enlists the help of friends. “I’m in the process of creating a team and moving to a bigger space, and expanding,” she says. With an onslaught of media attention, including Vogue, under her belt, it looks like the fashion world is her oyster.