wearsyourlove (Jackson Daniel)

Photography and Editing by Nia Blankson

Interview by Nia Blankson

Tell us a bit about your brand!
Wears Your Love (WYL) is a one of one upcycled streetwear brand. Hand made and designed by me [Jackson Daniel], based out of Montreal.

What led you to start Wears Your Love? How did you get into fashion design and embroidery?
I started WYL in November 2022 but my love for clothes began back in high school around 2012 when I started shopping at thrift stores regularly. The low cost and wide selection afforded me to be able to experiment with different styles, create patches and re-work pieces. I also drew a lot of inspiration from musical artists, dancers and skate culture and always looked to blend these styles together. While doing my bachelor for Visual Arts I started doing hand sewing and have since moved to machine embroidery allowing for much higher resolution designs.

Who do you draw inspiration from?
My biggest inspiration is hands down mother nature, I am constantly finding new colour palettes, shapes and forms from all of creation; plants, bugs, butterflies, gems and everything in between. Something I refer to as Bio-Design and will spend hours diving through scientific documentations and field photography to build my digital collection of amazing looking creatures and natural harmony. Nature is the only endless resource when it comes to design. I am constantly stumbling across an amazing looking bird or a rare mushroom species and that fuels me to find more!

Given the fact that your brand revolves around upcycling, and limited quantity hand made items, are there any fashion trends that your brand aims to combat?
Rather than combat, I think of it as the natural response to what the fashion industry has become. Fast fashion and the pollution that comes with it has certainly been a motivating factor in creating unique one of one pieces from materials and pieces that have been discarded. I think of it as telling a story through the piece and then allowing the wearer to fill in the rest of that story with their own unique style and presences. Something that fast fashion is unable to do and rather just tries to give everyone the same story. Creating one of one pieces also allows for me to constantly experiment with new styles and therefore keeps the whole process very stimulating for me.

What is your goal for Wears Your Love, and where do you want to see the brand five years from now?
My goal with WYL is first to inspire others to be themselves and to follow their heart. While I recognize the cliche of that, without that exact motivation and inspiration I received from other works I would not be doing all this. Second would be to collaborate with other like minded artists and produce products that help reduce the amount of waste we create. Five years from now I want to see my pieces in the New York Fashion Week and have my own brick and mortar for WYL.

What projects are you currently working on, and what do you have coming up?
Right now I am working towards my first Pop Up happening for all of March at Chaque Mois here in Montreal. I plan on doing more pop ups in Montreal during the summer which will be multimedia events.

Who would you like to see wearing your pieces?
I love seeing people who love the clothes wear them and the confidence it gives them. Dream pick has to be Andre 3000 though.

Do you want to expand outside of Montréal, or stay local?
I feel like WYL is a perfect fit for Montreal and it will always start with this community here and overall amazing style the city has as a whole. That being said I also want to see WYL go international and be able to connect with people from around the world.

How did you come up with the name for your brand, and what’s the meaning behind it?
Wears Your Love original inspiration comes from a Vancouver shop that was across from my grandparents house called ‘Wear Else’. I always enjoyed that play on words even at a young age and the final name came from the blending of the idiom wearing your heart on your sleeve and where’s your love? I enjoy the imagery of wearing love as it can represent so many things and I enjoy people filling in that gap for themselves.

What has your experience been running a fashion brand by yourself?
Excitingly nerve racking! It requires wearing lots of different hats in the beginning phases as I source all materials, handle all the manufacturing and designing, including all handling business matters and creating all my own marketing. However the bliss of being able to follow my heart and make things that I love without having to have it approved by others is extremely liberating. I take some solace when I look at other brands like OFF-WHITE, Supreme or Chanel as they were all started by one person as the core designer.