INTRODUCTION

There is soon no time available for people to read a daily newspaper and the consequence is that we get more of this thing called one-hand food. All food has to be such that one can hold it in one hand while doing something else with the other.

Carlsson-Kanyama, (1998) Thoughts concerning future food consumption: results from interviews, Report no. 208, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, Stockholm, Sweden.

Shelter, food, and clothing are extrinsic tools to get us ahead. We need nourishment before clothing, and so food trends dictate how we will consume fashion’s next trend. Trends will always change, and so should you. If you know more about what it takes to make a collection of clothes, maybe it’ll change how you value clothes, and shape which ones you buy next (no matter where you shop). Guarding fashion for longer wear while including the importance of a team mentality is the ethos of this book. I believe a key characteristic of fashion sustainability is a transparent supply chain. I wish to guide the Fashion Citizen -- which is anyone who consumes fashion -- through the production cycles of select Toronto fashion brands. In this book I feature brand profiles and their sustainable strategies, and count the hours and people involved. With this book I hope to raise the Fashion Citizen’s perceived value of a sustainably produced local garment, and create an emotional connection from the consumer to the designer. This book is about time. You can expect to spend 15 minutes reviewing the activities. There are over 12000 personal minutes invested in this book, and over 70 creatives involved in its content. It takes 23 minutes to read from cover to cover, and if you’ve never met the person that makes your clothes, it’s about time. I hope this book slows you enough to read it with two hands.