Strut!!

The long awaited day of the fashion show finally arrived. It was a dreary Sunday and we were a little nervous nobody would want to leave the comfort of their comfy couches to come watch our beautiful models strut their stuff draped in amazing local designs.

We spent the morning hanging off ladders to adjust lights in order to make the back bar of the Elephant and Castle on King St W. look like a runway. A little bit of creativity and imagination later and the space was successfully converted. With the DJ, our models, the make up artist and set up crew all on site all that was left was for the audience to arrive. A few glasses of wine and shots later every ones nerves were squashed and we were set!!

The weather seemed not to be a hindrance as we had a wonderful group of people come out to support us, our models and local talent! Cameron Brohman from Brandaid came and was so impressed with the event that we, Sway and Anne, were offered a chance to work side by side with Brandaid on some new projects! We graciously accepted before returning backstage where we were free to squeal like schoolgirls. What are these fabulous new projects you may ask? You will have to stay tuned to Local Buttons to find out!

Here (on the side bar) are the pics from the show, hope you enjoy looking at them as much as we enjoyed putting on the event.

Planning a Fashion Show

A Fashion Show??

If you knew us, Sway and Anne, planning a fashion show would probably be one of the last things you would expect us to organize during our off time. But, fed up with the notion that the majority of our clothes have a far larger travel repertoire than ourselves, we decided to create a fashion show promoting local fashion.

So in T.A.N. coffee shop on Queen West, Local Buttons: An Ethical Fashion Show was born. Using our 'extensive' knowledge of fashion shows (garnered mostly from watching episodes of America's Next Top Model) we set out in search of designers to showcase. We grabbed a local Toronto guide and our coffee pilgrimage took a slight turn into the form of a quest to check out Toronto designers as we sought out clothing lines we were most interested in.

We began approaching designers and for the most part were met with enthusiasm. We ran into a few bumps along the way as a few designers who tried to convince us our lack of experience would not allow us to create a successful event. We whole heartedly disagreed.

Again (like our pilgrimage for quaint coffee shops) Queen West seemed to win us over as we found ourselves predominantly drawn to this area. In the end we found four designers to feature: Preloved and Thieves Boutique from Queen W; The Coal Miner’s Daughter from Mirvish Village; and Miah Mills a Ryerson student who designs hand bags and accessories.

Our goal was to create more than a fashion show, we wanted to draw a greater awareness towards artist communities both locally and internationally. Thus, Local Buttons: An Ethical Fashion Show would function a fundraiser. We kept our eyes peeled for an organization that we felt would be in line with our fashion show.

Sway came across an article in the Globe and Mail about an organization called Brandaid that works with artisan communities in Haiti by buying local art and selling it in North America. The artisans in Haiti get paid at the time their art is bought and then share in 25% of the profit after the art is sold. We contacted the head of Brandaid, Cameron Brohman, to see if he would be interested in having us fundraise for his organization. Not only was Mr Brohman happy to have us promote his organization he decided to come to the fashion show as well!!

With the designers on board, an organization to fundraise for, and a host of wonderful friends who volunteered to model, to help us set up, to dj and many who were excited to come see the event everything seemed to be falling right into place.

All we had to do was hope that people would come when the day arrived….

Hello!

Hello!
We are Local Buttons...got a minute?

We, Consuelo, more often called Sway, and Anne are recent graduates of International Development Studies at York University. The degree that cultivated our commitment to contribute and support initiatives working towards sustainability within our communities and at large.

In our off hours, ie. when we are not pouring drinks and serving food at our respective bars, we brainstorm on how to engage our values in our choices and actions. We think ourselves crazy.

That is probably why we both love to run, and why we both are huge coffee fans, and suckers for intimate cafes. Queen West won us over. Noting endless cafes on a run on Queen as far as Dufferin and paying attention to an article in Now Magazine highlighting cafes, we designed a coffee pilgrimage. The search was on to discover the cities best fair trade and organic beaneries.

We commend two favourites for their contribution to the creation of Local Buttons. The idea was born in T.A.N while the barista roasted beans and told us about international coffee competitions in Brazil where organic and Fair Trade were two conditions to participate. They feature winning roasts at their location, brewed in house or ready to be purchased. We were inspired to brew our own production, an Ethical Fashion Show! We named our creation Local Buttons.

Ezra's Pound, our other favourite, helped get our project onto its feet. With two locations, one a 5 min walk from where we both live, and the second in the heart of the stores we wished to recruit for the fashion show. Its friendly staff alternate locations almost as much as we do so we're never sure who we'll see where. It is a joke we share...unbeknown to them.

We recommend you visit both T.A.N, 992 Queen West, at Ossington, and Ezra's Pound, 238 Dupont Street, just east of Spadina, and 913 Dundas Street West, at Bellwoods Ave.
The West End inspired Local Buttons and manifested itself in an Ethical Fashion Show, the subject of our next blog. Why a fashion show? Stay tuned to... Local Buttons!