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WHAT’S COOL, CUTTING EDGE AND IMPORTANT IN FASHION

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For Léonie Daignault-Leclerc, the most recent recipient of the ELLE Canada Graduate Award, sustainable fashion is as much about emotion as it is about environmentalism. “Most people think that eco fashion is just about the material; that’s a big part of it, but it’s also about the emotional sustainability of a garment,” explains the Ryerson alum. The first collection for her Montreal-based label, Gaia & Dubos, out this spring, will be produced on demand to cut down on waste. The designs, which are made from organic cotton and recycled polyester, will also be customizable—think varying necklines, sleeve lengths and buttons and cords that let the wearer play with the fit. Daignault-Leclerc believes that offering personalization options like these increases the physical and sentimental longevity of clothing. And she has the proof: She surveyed hundreds of potential customers—namely, women in Quebec—as part of her graduate research project. “Once I identified those interested in paying for high-quality sustainable fashion, I went deeper to learn what they like in terms of design, materials and the way they shop,” she says. “I hope that someday we won’t even have to ask if fashion is sustainable; it will just be a given.”