Ever since reading Fibreshed by Rebecca Burgess, where she makes an outfit entirely locally in California, I couldn’t stop thinking if the same concept could be possible in my northern Canadian city, Edmonton.
Last year I challenged myself to find out (and filmed the whole process!)
Farm to Closet is a slow fashion documentary series exploring each stage of making an entirely local garment, in Edmonton and area. The series features interviews with experts and we learn about everything involved, including:
- regenerative wool and fibre farming in Alberta
- historical yarn spinning
- natural dyeing using invasive weeds
- locally hand-weaving fabric
- the unique properties of wool
- what makes a design timeless
- Edmonton’s garment manufacturing history
- the role of slow fashion in our ultra fast fashion world
- and more!
One of the best parts of this experience was meeting so many talented and knowledgeable people in my area, and getting to sit down and have a wonderful long chat with them (only about 10-20% of each conversation actually ended up in the film!). We have an incredible local community and it was a delight to learn from and collaborate with so many people.
Series Experts
- Catherine C. Cole, Historian and Author of GWG: Piece by Piece
- Angela Larson, Owner of Swish Vintage
- Rachel McQueen, Textile Science Professor
- Maddy Purves-Smith, Custom Woolen Mills
- Tara Klager, Providence Lane Homestead
- Kalea Veremenko-Beckman, Textile Artisan
- Shannon Nelson & Kylie Boychuck, Traceable Textiles
- Christopher Savard, Artist & Weaver
Farm to Closet was made possible thanks to the support from our crowdfunding supporters and TELUS STORYHIVE.
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