Wednesday night Josh and I had the opportunity to go and meet Bryan Brock and Tyrone Edwards, the founders of 1LoveTO, in some swanky loft above Nyood on Queen Street West. First and foremost, they were really nice guys. Although Tyrone was attending to other guests, Bryan took the time to talk to us for a few minutes and we got to hear how far they've come and what their future plans are. Bryan is originally a graphic designer and one of his older projects was designing the DVD covers for Degrassi, so he was able to hook up with Drake and they've kept in touch ever since. In fact, they co-hosted his 23rd birthday party and needless to say, the event featured the whole OVO crew and some of Toronto's finest. They have Melanie Fiona on their Blackberrys and Tyrone just recently hosted Kid Cudi's concert at the Sound Academy.
But on to some deeper stuff, the story behind 1LoveTO is worth mentioning. Bryan explained their whole existence in two sentences: They designed their t-shirts for Caribana a few years back, everybody loved them and wanted one. They decided to start a blog and here we are. Ok, I'm not sure it was as simple as that, but pretty close. Essentially 1LoveTO received a hugely positive response right from the get-go and Bryan told me that for their pop-up shop, they had received around 200 t-shirt orders and have now sold 2500 in total.
And if that weren't enough, both Tyrone and Bryan are staff at the Remix Project, a creative arts outlet for youth - a project that Governor General Michaëlle Jean has even visited and endorsed. Tyrone is the Art of Business Program Leader and Bryan is the Creative Arts Program Leader. Although recently marred by financial troubles, the Remix Project was completely rejuvenated upon learning that Paul Gross, a Canadian actor and director, plans on donating the $25,000 he received along with his Governor General's award so that the Remix Project can move into its new location. I'm sure Mrs. Jean is smiling.
It's clear these guys are legit. It was great meeting them and learning what their plans are, and how they came to be who and where they are today. It is my sincerest hope that someday we will be able to work with these guys in any sort of fashion. Until then, the best I can do is wear my shirt proudly.
Sadly, I took no photos of the event besides the one above, but I wanted to show you the venue so all the pictures below are stolen directly from 1LoveTO.
