THE ANNUAL COLLECTION
After winning Toronto Fashion Incubator’s New Label Award in 2016, Peggy Sue returns to the runway with a second collection of sumptuous organic, colour-grown cottons, original print designs, handwoven fabrics and delicate sashiko stitching. Entirely traceable and Made in Canada, the Annual Collection deftly combines aesthetics and ethics.
RUNWAY PHOTOS ARE AVAILABLE HERE.
“When designing the Annual Collection, I focused on three words: Connected, Conscious and Regenerative. I wanted to create luxe fabrics and fashion-forward designs that celebrated Made in Canada, respected the people of our supply chain and envisioned fashion as a sustainable practice. I wanted to show luxury from an ethical perspective.”
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Modern Luxury with an Ethical Edge: The Key Concepts
Every garment in the Annual Collection is made from North American organic cotton or Canadian upcycled denim.
This Collection explores our love affair with fashion’s favourite textile – cotton – from an ethical luxury point of view.
Organic Farming
The Annual Collection begins at the farm and in the field. Cotton is a resource-intensive fibre crop and globally our most popular fashion textile. Supporting organic cotton farming means reduced water use and healthier farming practices for people and the land. Our cottons are sourced directly from the Fox Fiber in Northern California and the Texas Organic Cotton Cooperative in Lubbock, Texas.
Colour-grown Cotton
Although well known in the textile world, colour-grown cottons are relatively unexplored compared to standard white cotton in the fashion industry. Since 1981, Sally Fox of Fox Fiber has been developing cotton varietals that grow in a stable and consistent colour palates. Designing with colour-grown cottons means cutting out the often-harmful chemical dye process.
Climate Beneficial
Our design decisions, from choosing North American organic grown cotton to upcycling and mending, play a role in creating regenerative fashion. We were honoured to be chosen as an Agent of Change – awarded Climate Change by the Centre for Social Innovation in 2017 -- for our work on climate beneficial fashion.
Textile Upcycling
Our Canadian upcycled denim diverts jeans from the waste stream and re-interprets them as new fabrics designed and handwoven for the runway.
Garment Mending
The traditional task of mending is made modern in the Annual Collection. Our garments are adorned and repaired with sashiko, the Japanese art of stitching. Each sashiko piece is hand-stitched.
Made in Canada
The Annual Collection is an expression of Canadian artisanship and skill. The Collection was made, and will be produced, in Canada.
Members of Our Supply Chain
Jeremy Panda, Peace and Cotton
Peace and Cotton is Jeremy Panda’s offering to the Canadian apparel landscape. Jeremy is dedicated to a Made in Canada approach to design, printing and manufacturing.
Located in Toronto, Peace and Cotton sources materials first from Canada and then from North America. Materials from overseas are always fair labour accredited.
Jeremy Panda and his team work with the Peggy Sue Collection to bring our cotton prints to life.
Texas Organic Cotton Marketing Cooperative
The Texas Organic Cotton Marketing Cooperative is a long-standing member of the organic cotton community. Comprised of 40 members, ever year the Cooperative grows 10-19 000 acres of organic and transitional cotton in the Lubbock and South Plains area of Texas.
This area is known as the “world’s largest cotton patch” and is ideally suited to cotton growing. Each bale of cotton is traceable from the field to the customer, making TOCMC an ideal supplier for the Peggy Sue Collection’s.
Deborah Livingston-Lowe, Upper Canada Weaving
Based in Toronto, Deborah Livingston-Lowe is the master weaver of Upper Canada Weaving and the skilled artisan behind Peggy Sue Collection’s handwoven fabrics.
Deborah is dedicated to preserving Canada’s weaving culture and weaving history. She deftly translates historical patterns into contemporary interpretations, while pulling inspiration from the rural landscapes of Ontario.
Sally Fox, Fox Fibre
Fox Fibre is the product of more than 30 years of research, selective breeding and painstaking field trials. The result of Sally Fox’s dedication and perseverance are viable cotton varietals that produce a range of coloured cotton staples.
These coloured varietals offer textile and fashion designers the opportunity to attain colour inherent to the fiber and without the use of chemical dyes. Fox Fibre is grown at Viriditas Farm, a certified organic and biodynamic farm in Brooks, California.
Peggy Sue Deaven-Smiltnieks - Biography
Peggy Sue Deaven-Smiltnieks graduated with a B.F.A. from the Rhode Island School of Design. She founded Peggy Sue Collection Inc. with the mission of taking steps towards revitalizing the North American Farm and Fiber Industry. She works directly with farmers, start-up mills and artisans to design sustainable clothing that celebrates their skills.
She has lectured at both New York University and the Rhode Island School of Design on sustainable sourcing. She is passionate about creating a product that tells a story and uses natural North American materials to their fullest extent; by growing and educating a conscious consumer and dedicated fiber industry.
Having worked with many luxury brands and houses: Roksanda Illincic (London), Bruno Duluc (Los Angeles), SAKS Fifth Avenue 611 (New York City), Trinity Repertory Theater Company (Providence), Peggy Sue has come to believe true luxury not only lies in the quality construction of her garments, but in the heritage of her fabrics and fibers that can be traced back to the individual farm that raised them, the mill that spun them, the artisan who made them.
In a time where a garment's maker and its fiber source are anonymous, Peggy Sue seeks to affect change in the industry by producing an exclusively North American Collection that honors the Farmer, the Maker and the Creator. For without their time-honored skills, knowledge and hard work there would be no fiber, no fabric, no fashion.
About the Peggy Sue Collection
The Peggy Sue Collection is a North American luxury heritage brand based in Toronto. Peggy Sue Deaven-Smiltnieks, Founder and Creative Director of the Peggy Sue Collection, won the Toronto Fashion Incubator’s prestigious New Labels Award in 2016 with a runway collection sourced entirely from local farmers in Ontario.
The Peggy Sue Collection has been featured in WWD, Elle Canada, Flare, Glamour, Glow, Deux Hommes and Magnifeco.com
SAMPLE INSTAGRAM POSTS AVAILABLE FOR USE
Like the slow food and local food movements, the Peggy Sue Collection is deeply mindful of the path a garment takes from field to fashion. In an era of fast fashion and hidden supply chains, the radical transparency of the Peggy Sue Collection is impressive. Every aspect of the Annual Collection is traceable to the farmers and artisans who grew and made these clothes.
#PSAnnualCollection #peggysuecollection #nofarmsnofashion
On-point denim upcycling and hand stitching walk the runway with the Peggy Sue Collection @TWFW17.
See more looks from the Peggy Sue Collection at…
#PSAnnualCollection #peggysuecollection #nofarmsnofashion
The Peggy Sue Collection debuts at Toronto Women’s Fashion Week with the Annual Collection: Modern Luxury with an Ethical Edge. A runway presentation that celebrates North American organic cottons, upcycled Canadian denim and a Made in Canada approach to fashion.
#PSAnnualCollection #peggysuecollection #nofarmsnofashion
SAMPLE TWEETS
AVAILABLE FOR YOUR USE
“Fresh, modern and a luxurious perspective that begins with gorgeous fabrics. The Annual Collection shows us what #MadeinCanada means in 2017. ”
“Upcycled denim never looked so good. Peggy Sue gives our favourite fabric a modern edge with her ethical luxury take on denim and cotton. ”
“Don’t throw out those jeans! Peggy Sue Collection shows us what’s possible on the runway with her Annual Collection - embracing #ethicalluxury #TW”
“Connected Conscious Regenerative. The Peggy Sue Collection runway presentation at #TW offers an ethical take on modern luxury.”
Sample Blog Post
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SPEAKING BOLDLY ABOUT QUIET TOPICS
280 WORDS
Toronto fashion darling, Peggy Sue, is once again bringing ethical luxury to the runway.
Peggy Sue’s winning collection for the 2016 TFI New Labels award introduced locally sourced wool and alpaca as a luxurious, runway-worthy style.
This year Peggy Sue brought the next chapter of her North American heritage brand to Toronto Women’s Fashion Week with her Annual Collection: Modern Luxury with an Ethical Edge.
The Collection was developed around three key ideas: Conscious, Connected and Regenerative. “I wanted to create luxe fabrics and fashion-forward designs,” says Peggy Sue, “that celebrated Made in Canada, respected the people of our supply chain and envisioned fashion as a sustainable practice. I wanted to show luxury from an ethical perspective.”
The Collection is entirely traceable and Peggy Sue is quick to offer information about her supply chain. Members of the supply chain that worked on this Collection were in the audience at her Sunday evening show and even joined Peggy Sue on stage to close out the runway.
And this was just one of the ways that, according to Peggy Sue, “the Annual Collection speaks boldly about quiet topics.” Organic farming, the art of repair, climate beneficial fashion, and a dedication to Made in Canada--ideas that aren’t often discussed via the runway--are all part of the story this season.
Detailed sashiko stitching, hand-woven upcycled denim fabrics, and a palate pulled entirely from naturally coloured cotton, all inform a very on-point Collection with looks that take us from daytime to evening. This Collection is truly modern luxury with an ethical edge.
Peggy Sue’s vision for a purposeful, Canadian made and contemporary fashion line makes us appreciate what’s happening in Canadian fashion today.
ALL PHOTOS AVAILABLE FOR USE. RUNWAY PHOTOS TORONTO WOMEN'S FASHION WEEK, ALL OTHER PHOTOS: EMILY NEIL
COMPLETE SET OF RUNWAY PHOTOS ARE AVAILABLE HERE.
Contact
To book an interview with Peggy Sue or to view the Annual Collection, please contact:
Press Contact:
Sarah Jean Harrison
Peace Flag House – Digital Storytelling & Creative Agency
peggysue@peaceflaghouse.com
416.272.4071