TORONTO LOVE: Heart Beats T.O. ROUND 2

Aaah, my sisters from another mister.

I was able to meet with Madiha and Samia Mirza once again (almost a year anniversary from our first interview!) and chat with them about their progress throughout 2011, and their plans for 2012.
Their Spring Line is out, featuring a colourful collection, available for sale at their online shop.

They've expanded their business with access to the products at local shops such as "Come Get Customized" and "Ephin Apparel" in Toronto recently. With their attendance at various events in the city such as Manifesto and Distillary Art Market, the two entrepreneurs have more plans this Summer to get your heart beating for Toronto.

Madiha puttin' in work :P

Their "Big Beat" collection has made about 90% of the orders at Ephin Apparel. With plans to hopefully take part in Pride, Jazz Festival, Festival on Bloor and Caribana, who knows how many other tees and tanks will be added to the collection--- and to my closet?

Heart Beats TO: Spring 2012 Collection

Throughout 2011, HBTO did a lot of vending and networking, not to mention experiencing trial and errors in trying to figure out the demographics of their label. This summer, they plan to be more specialized, as Samia says, "A lot of Toronto brands are associated with music, we like that too. But we want to do different things, not just restrict ourselves to one thing, or a genre of one thing".
They visualize the expansion of their business into teaming up with organizations like United Way, and sponsoring such agencies where proceeds will go towards a cause. (Thumbs up from me!)

They have also reached out to local talents such as Marlon Palmer. They spoke highly of the aspiring actor of Toronto, "We have always tried to get Toronto people in our clothes... We noticed he wore a lot of different brands in his videos. He wore ours after we messaged him about it. He actually did what he said he would and kept in touch. There are people that don't do that, but he did. After he tweeted about it, we got 100 hits on the site immediately of the hoodie. The day he posted the video, we got 600 hits and orders of what him and Laith were wearing in the video". Clearly, the testimonial... (or endorsement?) helped! A kind gesture from a fellow Torontonian.

I asked an important question, in light of the great amounts of exposure they were receiving... Are they worried about becoming too commercial?
Nope.
Making the brand more appealing or distributing different collections is one thing, but Madiha says, "We don't want to change our brand and make it all flashy just for the sake of selling". Loyalty.

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Catch HBTO this summer at some of Toronto's anticipated annual events. Don't forget to check out their Spring collection!