Back in '09 there were a handful of creatives dedicated to putting on for the city. Toronto-based photographer Ajani Charles was an emerging young talent who spent a lot of his time documenting anything and everything that made Toronto tic. He started "Project T-Dot", a black and white photographic documentary/photographic essay on all the people, places and events that define (and have defined) Toronto’s diverse Hip-Hop culture and community.
Here's an excerpt from the interview with 1 LOVE T.O. co-founder Bryan Brock.
QUESTION
Can you give me some insights as to what 1 LOVE T.O. is all about? I would like to know what the blog is all about as well as what the fashion aspect of 1 LOVE T.O. is all about, in addition to what 1 LOVE T.O. as a collective umbrella is all about?
ANSWER
Basically, the idea behind 1 LOVE T.O. as a collective comes from that Bob Marley song, you know? “One love, one heart.” We’re a city (Toronto) that has everything from Filipino, Chinese, Japanese, African, Jamaican, Trini, you name it—the whole world lives in one city. That’s actually our tagline, by the way: “The world in 1 city.”
Myself and my partner - Tyrone "T-Rexxx" Edwards, thought that it would mean a lot more to Toronto to say “one love” as opposed to “I love”.
Everyone’s seen the “I Love New York” shirts or “I Love LA”, or whatever and that’s cool for them, but that’s a very individualistic point of view. And what myself and T-Rexxx believe that Toronto wants to evoke, is that we all get along here and we all do our best (individually) to learn about other cultures and to adapt to those cultures and at the end of the day that boils down to having “one love”.
So, that’s what the meaning behind it is. Now, the blog aspect is a means of showcasing what “one love” and the essence of Toronto is all about.
We all know that a lot of young people in the city, whether they’re involved in photography, film, theater and so on, are doing great things in the city for their communities and for communities abroad, but there doesn’t seem to be a media channel to showcase that.
You can’t necessarily turn on CityTV or example, to learn about these young people in Toronto doing great things.
So, we figured 1loveto.com could be that thing—that channel that showcases what’s really going on in Toronto. That’s why we cover everything from style, community, culture, music, art and so on. We just want to bring a different angle to those areas and expose the positive things that are going on in our community.
As a clothing line, it’s just connecting all those things together—that hometown pride that’s never really been articulated before, visually.
To read the full interview, CLICK HERE.
Posted by Bryan Brock