Proof Canada: The Importance of Textiles, Quality & Fit
The conversation around the future of the fashion industry tends to lean towards sustainability and waste management. The term sustainability itself can draw many different definitions for everyone, especially since it acts as more of an umbrella term to describe the interconnectedness of social, political, and economic development in relation to the environment.
One brand, in particular, is doing its part in contributing a positive influence on the fashion industry and paving the way for a new wave of made-to-order pieces. Proof Canada is a slow fashion brand, run by the incredible Jessica Firestone, based out of Ottawa. I had the opportunity to sit down (virtually) with Jessica to discuss a little bit more about her brand, her experience in the fashion industry and her hopes for the future.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
“I was always interested in fashion since I was a kid. My love of fashion first started with textiles, so I used to go into my mom’s closet and I would just examine her dresses and I was always obsessed with my dad’s leather shoes, just the craftsmanship and the stitching. I knew from a really young age that I wanted to be involved in it, but it took me a really long time to get there. In my early 20’s I tried doing styling, I tried doing photo editing, interning at a small Ottawa magazine; just nothing really stuck. I felt like I was left with all these little skills but nothing tangible, so at 27 years old I decided I’m going to school. I learned to sew and pattern make through that school and continued my education on my own and then Proof was born in that journey.”
INSPIRATION FOR STARTING HER OWN BRAND
“Olivia Rose The Label is a London based designer and it’s all made to order. It was the first time I had ever heard what made to order was. It reduces so much waste and a lot of the common issues we see with running a business, so I realized through her doing that successfully, it was proof of concept. I started looking into made to order and a lot of brands that are doing it now. I was looking for a responsible way to run this business, so I really look up to her. Her style is so different from mine which I like and she does everything herself too. It’s just a one man show and she’s grown to huge heights.”
ETHICS
“I have a little rant about sustainability, because I feel like I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a sustainable brand. My take on sustainability is a little more nuanced. I feel like the conversation around sustainability is always about textiles, but to me it’s a holistic view of how people are purchasing. My pieces are very much investment pieces; they’re custom made to measure and none of my stuff ever goes on sale so people aren't just buying it because they feel like it’s a good price. I do have a small community of people who are very mindful of how they build their wardrobe. I’m sourcing everything I can from Canada and small businesses, even just my notions. You pay more but to me, in turn, shopping small and shopping local is really important so I try to keep 90% of the things I purchase for the business Canadian made.”
“A huge ethic of mine has been customer relationships and people feeling like they’re actually cared for. When I recovered from an eating disorder about 5 years ago, I went from a size 4 to a size 12 within a year. I just felt uncared for by clothing companies and I hid my body behind sweatshirts but when Covid hit, I could only be my own fit model, and so I started making clothes for my measurements, and through that my whole body image completely changed.”
“In turn, my relationship with food, my relationship with boyfriends, with everybody changed when I started respecting my body. What I wanted to bring to customers was that you didn’t have to have that experience with things not fitting you because fast fashion pattern making is such a mess. They treat a size 12 like they’re just a bigger version of a size 4, which isn’t the case. That’s where I said, if I could do this for myself and treat myself with respect by having well fitted clothes that make me feel good about myself then I can do that for others, and I’ve always said customer service over profit. That is a huge ethic of mine, people feeling good, people getting quality garments that’s going to last them a lifetime which is also sustainable because they have a piece that’s going to be in their wardrobe forever. I just really, really care so much about my customers.”
DREAM COLLABORATION
“Phoebe Philo or Erin Roberston.”
THE FUTURE OF FASHION
“I know the future of fashion is definitely in technology, 3-D rendering & pattern making and using Blender to do runway shows. It’s going to be really good for waste management; for a normal designer to make a blazer, for example, it might take them 5-10 toiles to get it to the perfect fit, and that’s 5-10 iterations of that waste. I’m hoping that this rapid trend cycle dies out as people slowly start to become more aware, but I think conscious consumerism is the only way out.
How do you tell a 15-year-old girl with $150 not to get 10 pieces of clothing? If we started education in high schools, that could cause a much-needed paradigm shift; we haven’t seen a counter-culture recently in fashion, and I think the oversaturation of trends has led to a natural scarcity of individualism in fashion.”
ADVICE FOR YOUR YOUNGER SELF
“Just do it. I wish I started younger, and what people don’t realize is that there’s actually an infinite amount of jobs in fashion. You don’t have to be a fashion designer, you can interact with fashion in your profession in so many different ways. You could be a designer and not sew, you could sew and not be a designer, you can do pattern rendering or graphic design. It took me until I was 27 to give myself permission to be in the industry because you always think ‘I’m not this enough, I’m not that enough’ because fashion is so stigmatized in that way. If you’re really interested, you can find your way.”
To shop Jessica’s brand, visit https://proofcanada.ca/