Erin Kleinberg’s career reads like a living roadmap of modern creative entrepreneurship. From designing clothes in her teens to co‑founding an influential digital fashion platform, leading a creative agency, and eventually launching her own lifestyle and beauty brand, she has consistently blended curiosity, intuition, and an eye for culture into every chapter of her professional life.
But rather than following a traditional path, Kleinberg’s rise has been shaped by personal passion, chance encounters, and a refusal to be boxed into any one idea of success — an approach that continues to drive her work today as the founder and CEO of Sidia, a sensorial body‑care and fragrance brand rooted in comfort, ritual, and heritage.
Early Sparks: Style Was Never Optional
Kleinberg’s flair for style showed up young. She remembers turning heads in seventh grade wearing turquoise wrestling boots — a bold choice that inadvertently became a trend. Growing up in Toronto, she was surrounded by family influences who appreciated fashion, and that early exposure helped shape her intuitive sense of what was visually compelling.
Her first real job — helping a wedding planner in high school — wasn’t glamorous, but it was formative. It introduced her to the world of events, organization, and what it takes to bring celebratory moments to life. Later, while at university, she organized a charity fashion show to benefit the Canadian Cancer Society — an early example of mixing creativity with purpose.
Into the Fashion World — Literally
At 19, Kleinberg landed an internship at W Magazine under fashion director Alex White — a pivotal breakthrough. There, she observed high‑stakes fashion shoots, worked closely with style editors, and witnessed firsthand how fashion stories were crafted through coats, campaigns, and iconic imagery. She recalls moments like organizing clothes for George Clooney and learning the ropes from seasoned professionals who shaped her understanding of fashion culture.
Even when simple tasks — like being asked to send a fax to “Karl” — revealed her inexperience, they became anecdotes in her ongoing education in fashion and media.
Learning by Doing: From Design to Retail Success
Kleinberg’s first big entrepreneurial leap came with her own clothing line. Starting with tops made from vintage scarves sold in Toronto boutiques, her line grew into eco‑friendly cardigans, dresses, and customized pieces. One of her handmade tops even landed on Mischa Barton during the peak of The O.C. era, drawing attention from the fashion blogosphere.
Despite being young and inexperienced, she hustled her way into selling her collections at Barneys New York — a major milestone. Following that success came orders from retailers including Intermix, Harvey Nichols, Lane Crawford, and Nordstrom, giving her first real taste of wholesale fashion.
That experience taught her far more than any classroom could — from facing unexpected duties bills to navigating complex logistics — and laid the groundwork for the next phases of her career.
Digital Storytelling: The Birth of Coveteur
By 2010, Kleinberg felt ready to evolve beyond fashion design and into digital storytelling. Alongside friends and collaborators, she co‑founded Coveteur, a pioneering digital platform that offered an inside look at tastemakers’ wardrobes and homes — long before Instagram narratives became a cultural staple.
Their twist? Instead of just showcasing what people wore, they revealed how they lived and got dressed — the environments, objects, and personality behind style. These intimate portraits of closets and interiors offered viewers a new kind of inspiration, blending still life editorial art with personal narrative.
Coveteur became a cultural touchstone in fashion media, providing early visibility for creatives, stylists, designers, and photographers. Kleinberg’s work there positioned her at the forefront of editorial innovation, combining lifestyle storytelling with visual culture in ways that felt fresh at the time.
She walked away from Coveteur in 2014, recognizing that her creative curiosity was already reaching past one project into something broader.
The Creative Turn: Métier Creative
After leaving Coveteur, Kleinberg didn’t slow down. She launched Métier Creative, a creative agency focused on helping brands tell their stories with intention and cultural relevance — not just through ads, but through experiences and rich visual narratives.
Even without traditional agency experience, she leaned on her editorial and fashion background to build campaigns and meaningful content for brands and founders navigating the evolving digital world. This venture reinforced her belief that good creative work should combine strategy, storytelling, and cultural insight — and that such work could shape how audiences connect with brands.
Sidia: A Brand Born From Ritual, Memory, and Comfort
Despite decades in fashion and media, Kleinberg always felt something was missing in the beauty and body‑care space — particularly when it came to products that combined effective ingredients with enjoyable scents and textures. Around 2020, after the pandemic began and following her grandmother’s passing, she asked herself a new question: what if she could build a brand that merged those worlds?
The answer came in the form of Sidia, named in honor of her grandmother and inspired by the self‑care rituals they shared. The brand’s philosophy — encapsulated in its tagline “come home to yourself” — emphasizes sensory experience and comfort as much as efficacy and design.
Sidia launched with hand and body care formulated to be effective, delightfully scented, and free from the design compromises that had frustrated Kleinberg in other products. Its hero serum — lightweight, hydrating, and comfortable — became so beloved that it quickly outpaced her own expectations. Today, the range includes multiple scents, exfoliants, and body serums that evoke a sense of ritual and pleasure.
The Larger Story: Legacy Meets Innovation
What sets Kleinberg’s career apart is her ability to see stories where others see products or platforms. From clothing that found its way into high‑end boutiques to digital storytelling that redefined fashion publishing, and now to a beauty and lifestyle brand rooted in personal history — her work is driven by narrative, emotional resonance, and thoughtful design.
Her grandmother’s influence — instilling the importance of self‑care and personal ritual — provided both emotional grounding and creative spark for Sidia, making the brand feel less like a commercial project and more like a meaningful continuation of family legacy.
Through it all, Kleinberg remains a reminder that creative careers aren’t always linear. They are shaped by experimentation, curiosity, and the courage to build something entirely new — whether that looks like a digital platform, a creative agency, or a sensorial brand inviting people to slow down and care for themselves.
