Muttonhead Collective & Toronto Production

Rob Ford's appeal verdict will be released tomorrow at 10:30 am. Who else is nervous with anticipation? (If he gets kicked out, does anyone want to do a mashup Lance Armstrong/Rob Ford ride for kicks?) One thing our fearless leader never seemed to talk about was actual job creation or bringing back manufacturing to Toronto. Production and manufacturing jobs would be super useful to the city. Did you know Toronto was once the 3rd largest apparel manufacturing city in North America? In this city we can't all be marketing account executives, restaurant owners, bankers and real estate lawyers. This city needs a diverse job portfolio. There is also a global market shift that is making overseas production less and less affordable, along with quality control harder and more expensive to manage.

PHOTOS: STEPHEN CROSBY/THE GRID

When politicians fail to be visionary and lead, and they usually do, it's young entrepreneurs that lead the way.  Despite little to no support in regards to manufacturing from the city, Toronto is teaming with talented, productive hands. The Deadly Nightshade's past Style Spins were in celebration of local artisans and fashion and apparel producers. (Did you see us in the Toronto Star or the BBC?). The Deadly Nightshades are included in that category; Cat Essiambre has her own Seafoam Apparel Production Agency, Laura works with YNOT, Irene is the Queen of The Make Den, and Patricia is talented production gun for hire.



The ever talented local Toronto unisex brand Muttonhead Collective was featured in last week's Grid TO. The article is a great read about the surviving production industry around Sterling Road at Landsdown and Bloor. Fittingly, this area was the location for 2012 Toronto Alternative Fashion Week. Muttonhead celebrates modern Canadiana right, through aesthetics and production methods. They are bound for success.

Since she [Meg Sinclair] created Muttonhead as her design thesis collection when she graduated from Ryerson almost three years ago, local production has been her focus. “I’m finding that people care more where it’s made rather than [if] it’s made
from organic cotton,” she says.

Muttonhead Collective is having an amazing end of season sale. Check it out!