Joseph Tassoni has been making his impact on the Canadian fashion industry for more than 20 years and when COVID hit, he sprang into action.
Tassoni’s boutique has been producing PPE since the start of the pandemic and his was the first Canadian fashion brand to start making reusable masks and gloves.
Tassoni is an award-winning fashion designer with close to two decades of corporate fashion experience before starting his own made-in-Canada brand in 2017.
He has always known that working in fashion was the career choice for him, going back to when he would cut out his mom’s drapes to make dresses for his three sisters.
“When you’re graduating from high school, you have to know pretty much when you’re like 14 or 15, what are you going to do with the rest of your life,” Tassoni said. “And for me, fashion was always, always part of that.”
He has worked with fashion lines such as Joe Fresh, Holt Renfrew, and Pink Tartan, and has outfitted attendees with designs for the TIFF red carpet in 2017, 2018, and 2019.
He even moved to South America for a while where he launched his own jewelry line just so he could understand the workings of it. He then sold the line to The Bay, putting it in 25 stores across Canada.
In his last corporate gig, Tassoni worked with legendary Canadian designer Linda Lundstrom and her outdoor La Parka line until it went bankrupt and was bought out.
He then took over the brand and was responsible for several areas of operation.
“It was a big production. I did the brand measure, I did the design, I did the sales, I did everything,” he said. “And when you come in every day, you’re going to your sample makers who are doing the sewing and you’re checking up on production, and you’re checking up on the cutting, then your pattern-making team.”
“People are so invested in made-in-Canada, and they’re so proud. So when you don’t own your company, you can’t call those shots as to how things can progress as made-in-Canada.”
This passion for elevating homegrown Canadian fashion led him to launch his own line.
It started with just one parka, selling it in three lengths all across Canada and the United States, using all locally-sourced materials.
As an example, his down fabrics are a byproduct of ducks that are raised in Alberta and his outer shell fabrics are milled in Quebec. And any notions (e.g. buttons, snaps, etc.) or trims or anything of that nature are all recycled from previous existing Canadian products.
Tassoni’s studio/boutique is located underneath the Pearl and Pine retirement home in Burlington and when COVID came to Canada, he said that they implemented immediate health and safety measures even before the city or the province did.
He was looking at the news and saw the massive shortages of PPE for frontline and healthcare workers and decided very quickly that he needed to help.
“We don’t need medical-grade equipment if we’re going to the grocery store. But they [healthcare workers] do because there’s so many people that are sick and dying that are going to the hospital,” Tassoni said.
“I said ‘We need to keep this economy going, we need to keep people employed.’ So what happened was, I said ‘We’re going to find a locally-sourced material that is anti-microbial, designed to go around your nose and your mouth.’ So we create zero opportunity for rash or reaction.”
Tassoni said they still were selling an investment in made-in-Canada and that as simple a product as it is, it still had to fit their philosophy: everything was in the details. In the quality, the fit, the finish — but most of all, it was about giving back.
“So I said, ‘We’re gonna invest that in the material, we’re going to cover the wage of one Ontario worker, and the remaining $5 will go to Joseph Brant Hospital,’” he said. “This program, it’s still ongoing. We’re constantly giving to them.”
What Tassoni was doing for the community was not well-received at first, admitting that he received death threats both on his doorstep and by email.
He said he would also receive messages telling him that he shouldn’t be doing this and that people knew where he lived and where he exited his boutique.
Tassoni said that this behaviour continued on and on but that the reception has improved over the last couple of years.
His donations to the hospital continued despite the hostility and he started working with the Hamilton Heath Sciences Foundation to do the same thing for them.
And in February, he was given the Inspire Award by Burlington City Councillor Lisa Kearns for his work for the community during the pandemic. He admitted that this was a humbling moment and that it felt great to have that sense of acknowledgement.
He said that being in downtown Burlington is important for his made-in-Canada brand.
“This is where I connected,” said Tassoni. “I grew up out in Oakville. So all this has always been my circuit, and to have the ability to disappear and go to the water for a great walk. You know, this industry is so intense.”
He said these products will still be available for purchase once the provincial mask mandates are lifted on March 21.
“I think that is a responsible way of thinking. And it’s thinking about others. And that’s how I am.”
