In this digital age, apps such as Instagram, Tik-Tok and Twitter, have allowed creatives to broadcast their talents on a major scale independently. Sweets, a Toronto based stylist and creator, happens to be one of these talented individuals. Her progressive style has amassed her a large following on both Instagram and Tik-Tok ( @lilsweets), with the latter coming in at almost thirty thousand followers. “ Consistency is so important when it comes to the content your followers are expecting.” she remarks. “ If you make 5 or 6 videos, maybe only one of those will go viral, but when they check your page, you have to make sure they are hooked by the content you produce.” The question of how social media has helped her grow her following as a creator arose, which she had this to say: “ Social media is one of the most useful tools that every young creator and entrepreneur should become familiar with. It’s free and you have the world at your fingertips. It’s not like before. You don’t need the resources you once did in order to get your art seen. If you use it properly, you can really make your dreams a reality.”
Sweets usually restricts the pieces used in her outfit videos to only thrifted items, and will creatively repurpose garments in ways I and many others have never seen before. “ I think thrifting is so fun because you really never know what you're going to get, and you're not limited to any specific style of clothing. You might even find some pieces that you’d never be able to find outside of the thrift. The possibilities are endless.” Sweets believes that many of her followers appreciate the low cost and availability of the garments she uses. “I think it's harder to relate to an influencer that is wearing outfits worth thousands of dollars. I want to show people you can bring that same energy at a low cost” she also added that she wants people to not be afraid to get creative. “ A men’s sweater could be so much more. I have a video up that shows you how to turn a sweater into a little side bag. It’s just fun to repurpose things. This fashion stuff is all about fun at the end of the day.”
“My favourite part of working in the fashion industry and styling in particular is that I get the privilege to use people as my canvas. I really feel like putting together a good outfit is like art.” She says. “ Even when it comes to just picking out an outfit for myself, I feel like it's such an incredible outlet to express yourself.” She believes working with other creatives so closely has definitely allowed her to pick up new things and gain new inspirations from artists from all fields. “I could be at a styling gig for a music video, and just the overall energy projected by everyone involved usually is enough to pull a new perspective into my head.” Sweets provides styling, creative direction and curation services for brand photoshoots and music videos. “ I’d like to think my work is pretty unique, I want it almost immediately recognizable as my work.” And in all honesty, Sweets’s distinct way of layering garments, matching colour and overall aesthetic, really has become solidified as her style within the Toronto underground fashion community. When asked about the use of colour in her styling, she mentions that she prefers outfits with a gradient in colour. “I love working with earth and skin tones but if not, monochromatic works just fine too.” she says. “ Colour is so important when it comes to tying the whole outfit together and I think earth and skin tones allow the outfit to be more subtle.”
Toronto is an amazingly creative city with plenty of potential fashion wise, but she states that “the city needs to be more open to working together, Toronto is full of talent and great minds, but there's this lingering non collaborative attitude that is holding us back at times.” As a Toronto native and member of the fashion and art community, I can attest to the fact that the city can carry a very screw face attitude ( hence the nickname “The screwface capital”). “ The worst part is that a lot of potential collaborations that could put Toronto on the map aren’t happening because of peoples egos. We have the artistic capacity to be just like New York or even something like LA.” Sweets is just one of the many incredibly talented creators emerging from Toronto. With the spotlight finally starting to shift onto the city, you can expect to see artists just like Sweets getting the recognition that they most certainly deserve.
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