This Sustainable Toronto Fashion Brand Appeals To All Ages
Diana Coatsworth’s career in fashion started out as a hobby, a side gig that supported her through the valleys of her theatre and film career. She sewed on the side for a few years, making handbags out of jeans. In 2014, she decided to go back to school to develop her skills, pushing through George Brown’s two-year fashion design and techniques program in 18 months.
In 2017, she opened her own business. After dabbling with bridal and red carpet-ready designs—not to mention a booming period spent making fabric masks during the pandemic as founder of The Sewing Army—in the past few years, she’s pivoted to upcycled patchwork-y coats and dusters as well as cashmere sweaters and blouses.
“I went back to the roots of upcycling,” she shares over the phone from her home in Toronto. “It’s very much in my being. I grew up going to garage sales with my parents. I love rooting around for beautiful textiles.”
Her coats took off, especially after Sarah Nicole Landry—a.k.a. Birds Papaya, who is also a former Chatelaine cover star—bought a jacket and posted about it online.
“Just having her shout me out a few times; I had so many people on my website,” says Coatsworth. (Landry, who's based in Guelph, Ont., has 2.5 million followers and counting.)
At this year’s One of A Kind Show in Toronto, Coatsworth's booth was absolutely buzzing.
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Part of the appeal of her label is the nature of its production—her hand-cut clothing is made from vintage and/or used fabrics she sources, which means no two pieces are the same.
That one-of-a-kind factor drives a cross-section of interest. Everyone wants something unique, she says.
“Every once in a while, people will ask me, ‘What's your demographic?’ And I feel like they won't believe me if I kind of just say, everyone?” (Indeed, on the day Chatelaine visited the One of a Kind Show, we spotted women of all ages in her booth.)
Her jackets have one defining feature: a wide, lantern sleeve that tapers at the wrist. It’s a detail her clients love. “People tell me that when they wear theirs, people go, ‘Oh, is that a Diana Coatsworth jacket?’”
The success of her jackets feels fated, she says.
“People find it wild that my name is Coatsworth.”
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Flannery Dean is a writer based in Hamilton, Ont. She’s written for The Narwhal, the Globe and Mail and The Guardian.
