My name is Andrew Billingslea.

  • I’m an independent fashion designer and multidisciplinary visual artist from Barrie, Ontario, Canada, seeking to produce lasting, impactful works within the realms of fashion & art, working first and foremost with materials local to me to create in a manner that wishes to add rather than to take from the natural world and its resources around me. 

    My eponymous fashion label, Billingslea, will create ethical, contemporary design and visuals, rooted in traceability and accountability, to deliver high-quality product(s) that reflect not only the geographic location where I currently reside, but my personal values as a designer in terms of the ethical creation of fashion that operates first to support fair trade and social networks (local or abroad) while working on slow fashion calendars to deliver thoughtful and sustained product(s).

    I aim to divulge as much information as possible about my product(s), their materials and practices, to contribute to more productive modes of consumption while, to the best of my ability, minimizing the degradation of lands that aren't my own in the process of creating fashion and art alike.

  • Today's global fashion and apparel industry makes it effortless to outsource production and chase convenience over consciousness.

    In an industry contributing heavily to our planet’s degradation, conscious creation in the modern age isn’t optional—it’s urgent. We must relentlessly seek out fair production, insist on living wages, dignified working conditions and real paths for internal growth for the people working within.

    Driving positive change within the industry isn’t just about the people—it’s about transforming the way we design, cultivate, process and dye fibres, so we can preserve our environment, protect our resources and secure our futures.

    I thrive on conceptualizing, designing and sewing clothing from the ground up. Given my geographic location in Ontario, Canada, I aim to produce ideas, samples, and stories for art here and believe in working locally first to support sewing, notions, and fabric stores that need business in our current economic conditions.

    While the creation of fashion itself is unsustainable, I will operate on a slow-fashion calendar and create eco-conscious projects in art and fashion, using what is readily available first and designing with circularity, ethicality, and sustainability in mind to deliver lasting works that reflect and further celebrate the land we inhabit when we work together towards a more conscious fashion future.

  • Unless explicitly stated otherwise, all writing, photography, videography, projects, editing, garmentry and styling on billingslea.ca is executed by Andrew Billingslea