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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, N ov em be r 11 ,2 02 1 | 34 www.shoppersdrugmart.ca 2501 Third Line905-465-3000 478 Dundas Street West905-257-9737NOW OPEN24 HRS EVERY DAY • Patient Counselling • Complete Diabetic Care• Home Visits • Consultations • Free RX Delivery• Free Nutrition Counselling • Vaccinations• Cholesterol, A1C, AFib and DNA Screening lw ys Here toelp You! DE RANGO PHARMACY INC. w 2501 T905-465-3000 • P• H • C AlwaHelp Pharmacist -Fabio De Rango Drug Store/Pharmacy If she's not sitting at her sewing machine for hours on end, Lauren Novak is exploring thrift shops, rummaging through racks of clothing and discarded old shoes and inspecting abandoned fabric chairs. "Any thrift store is my best friend - I love going thrifting for myself. I have a shopping problem so it cures that problem. I'm al- ways at thrift stores. Some- times I go into a thrift store because I have a specific design in my head and I know I need this type of fabric, or I go through a thrift store and say, 'Oh wow this inspires me.' " Novak is a young fash- ion designer brimming with passion and creativi- ty, breaking through the ranks with bold and inno- vative designs, all of them a homage to the environ- ment. Her devotion to her vocation is equaled only by her respect for the environ- ment. "I love the environment. I'm one of those crazy friends that is always going off on people about how to recycle properly. I give my- self a lot of anxiety over it." Whether it's a dress crafted from cowboy boots, a purse from basketballs or a multi-coloured patch- work coat of bandanas, her designs all evolve from pre- existing materials. "Knowing that I'm re-in- venting the waste, I feel like it gives me a sense of calm in such a hectic over- loaded world. The clothing industry is probably one of our biggest polluters worldwide and especially textiles and the way we dis- pose of textiles," said the 27-year-old, who grew up in Oakville but now resides in Toronto. "With the rise of fast fashion, cheap fabrics, we've just seen such an up- hill battle with the amount of discarded waste that's just getting thrown away because it is so cheap to buy, so if it doesn't fit you or if it rips, people have a ten- dency to just get rid of it." Striving for sustainabil- ity is not the easy path from material to garment, be- cause instead of just laying down a pattern on store- bought fabric, there is plenty of prep work. "I have to make sure it's clean, take it apart and see what I'm working with to get the most out of what you have." But Novak and her de- signs are being noticed. She just returned from her first New York Fashion Week presentation, partici- pated in Fashion Art To- ronto's fashion show this spring, and was featured in Fashion Magazine's sus- tainability issue in May. Novak gravitated to- wards fashion her entire working life, jumping from retail to wholesale, and only recently set out on her own with Remark by Lauren. "I just wanted to work for myself and have a little more control; I had been building everyone else's company and I wanted to build my own." Creating her own pieces was always something she would do for family and friends when she got home from work or on weekends. It was social media that allowed her to showcase her designs and get real time reaction, which gave her the confidence to go so- lo. "When people respond, react to something I'm cre- ating, it's the most hum- bling thing. I just love it. It means people are under- standing my vision too and I think that's incredible." Her designs are bold in colour, cut and style; pieces that you wouldn't find at a mall or even walking down the street, she said. "Any piece that you wear is meant to catch an eye. It's unique; there's not a duplication of it, no one else is going to have what you're wearing. Sometimes it might be a similar style, but no two are the same." Reduce. Reuse. Remark. That is her brand's mantra. "When I get in front of my machine, I can sit there and I can breathe knowing I'm doing something that I love, but I'm also eliminat- ing waste and making it something new again." Novak's designs are available through her web- site remarkbylauren.com A FASHIONABLE CONTRIBUTION TO THE ENVIRONMENT Fashion designer Lauren Novak wears one of her own outfit creations while carrying purses, all made by repurposing used materials. Graham Paine/Metroland KATHY YANCHUS kyanchus@metroland.com NEWS LOCAL WOMAN CREATES OUTFITS WITH REPURPOSED MATERIALS "Knowing that I'm re-inventing the waste, I feel like it gives me a sense of calm in such a hectic overloaded world." - Lauren Novak