Auxvoir Transcript

Well I’ve always loved fashion and style, and and just showing a little piece of myself and my personality through what I wore; you to know, like, hey, I'm happy, I'm joyful and today I got dressed and it was fun. 

I'm Abigaïl, the founding stylist of Auxvoir Style Collective. A styling company that helps you reshape and find your personal style, and obtain a closet that's sustainably made, and intentionally lived. 

It started off as a necessity; I come from a lower socio-economic family, and so we didn't have the means to be able to buy every new trend. I was a scholarship kid in my schools, and so, folks would have the brand named items that I would want and I would have to go thrifting if I wanted to be stylish in that way. So it started by just finding treasures at the thrift store. Finding things that nobody else could get even if they had more money, right, I was able to just express myself through finding something that was within my means, but stylish to me. 

When it comes to Auxvoir, I had the idea in in my heart and in my mind for a long time and I just, I could not convince myself to go public with it. And last year I realized I'm the only one holding myself back. I'm the one telling myself its not possible. It's fully possible. And I wrote it down, I met someone who also loved fashion and styling, and once we started doing it I realized, Auxvoir Style Collective is a real thing, and it can continue to be a real thing, if I just believe in it. 

I'm originally from Haiti and Haiti used to have eighty to ninety percent of it's exports be from the garment industry, and fast fashion fuelled our economy. And once the 2013 Rana Plaza Garment Factory collapse happened I realized, hundreds of thousands of people are losing their lives, simply so that I can have a cheap piece of clothing on my back, that I'm going to throw away in a month, because it's not in style anymore. And that is and could be a Haitian person; it could be a Canadian person. It just so happens that we are privileged enough to live in a space where we have ethical standards for how our garment is made.

So sustainability, sustainability is important to me because I want my clothes to be long lasting, and I want everything in my life to be, to have a longevity, longevity within it but ethical styling is also very important to me because I don't want blood on my hands, as well. 

If you're thinking how do I begin being sustainable with my wardrobe, start with your closet. Take a look at it, what you gravitate towards, how often you wear a piece, what needs to be mended, what needs to be up-cycled. 'Cause it's not just about taking the items and realizing, “oh, its out of style” it's taking the items and saying, “oh I don’t really wear it anymore”; now changing it so that you do wear it.  You can always start with what you already have. 

I love styling because, well, first I love styling myself. I love going into my closet and doing an unexpected pairing; finding something that I haven't worn in a while and making it a new staple in my everyday wear. I love learning new parts of someone else and I enjoy showcasing personalities through clothes, because I think, people forget, that we are speaking so loudly, just by the clothes that we wear. Our clothes say so much more than just “this is a cardigan” and “this is a pair of pants” it can say a whole story and journey and I want my story to be ethical, sustainable, and community based.