Cassie Jones is the founder of the Montreal Company, Reap What You Sew since 2011. She is an nineteen-year-old student who is passionate about photography, writing, painting, traveling, activism, and has a weakness for vintage dresses and records which she collects. Cassie is an activist who is invested in the environment and social issues, and to date has followed the Viking route throughout the Arctic on an educational expedition learning from scientist, educators and artists, as well as volunteered in a daycare and community centre nestled in the foothills of the Himalaya’s in India’s tea capital, Palampur. She also, represented Canada at World School International forum in Italy. The diverse experiences abroad and within her own community are inspirations that she draws upon in her writing and art, becoming influences that can be seen in the collection. Cassie is rarely seen without her longboard in hand and has a deep fondness for her bulldog. She is quite seriously considering a t-shirt line for the plus sized breed (although we all know it is pure muscle).
Goals
We aim to design shirts that are unique and imaginative by ourselves and other local Montreal artists. Our designs reflect the urban and edgy nature of the city. We work to create quality t-shirts that are accessible, original and make bold statements about fashion and its potential as a driving force in creative activism.
Our objective is to be a responsible company that strives to help not only our business profit and prosper, but for other’s to profit from our sales. We give back by donating a percentage of every sale to the charities associated with each design. We choose to provide the best ethical designs and partnerships by not using sweatshop made products. We believe in looking good and feeling good at the same time. We appreciate your generosity and support of our products and mission!
Our Song and Dance:
I wanted to combine my love of my community, art and design, activism and experimentation with fashion in order to create an integrative project in high school that I would be proud and passionate about working on. I expanded my goals and framework to create a functioning business platform that I respect and believe in.
The name Reap What You Sew came to me on a roadtrip when the windows were rolled down and the taste of freedom lingered in the air. The song “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele was blaring from the stereo and I was singing along when the lyric, “you pay me back in kind and reap just what you sow” struck a chord in me. I immediately was inspired by the proverb “reap what you sow”. It is a notion that I identify with as a mode of living. The idea is that each of our individual actions bear consequences that we ultimately have to face. The proverb also, recalls a karmic state of mind that when we do a good deed by making responsible choices we will reap the benefits later down the road. The logo of the company is symbolic of the name and the meaning behind it. The grim reaper is featured in the design with a sewing needle in hand, which is a play-on-words to create our company name, Reap What You Sew. The grim reaper is traditionally portrayed with a scythe, which is an implement used in farming to harvest the crops, although the grim reaper is more morbid and uses the implement to instead harvest dying people. We adapted the image of the reaper to combine the multi-dimensional levels of meaning. Reap What You Sew identifies with the aspect of cultivating and creating a product to harvest that is a part of a positive cycle. It fit our company mandate and highlighted the fact that we give back to the community through donating a percentage of profits on each sale to local charities. As a clothing company we believe in the mentality that through our commitment to responsibility and ethical practices that our collective actions matter.
There is only one interest missing from the interdisciplinary business model, my affinity for music!
-
Each unique design is created exclusively by the team of artists at Reap What You Sew.
-
The t-shirts and all products are vegan, fair trade, and sweatshop free.
-
Our t-shirts contribute to social change by donating a percentage of the profits on each shirt to charities and grassroots organizations to help further their work and make positive impacts.
-
In order to commit to the three R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle) we carry a limited edition line of designs printed on vintage and thrifted merchandise to create a one -of –a- kind piece.
-
The printing of the designs onto the merchandise is all done in Canada.
-
Reap What You Sew is an online store to date but maintains an active presence in the Montreal community and region.
-
We do ship outside Canada but shipping fees apply based on your region.