Trenton Millar, Trend Hunter (INTERVIEW)

Trend Hunter Trenton Millar is intrigued by the use of unconventional material such as toilet paper for garbs, as he had the pleasure to see its potential walk down the runway at Cashmere's Toilet Paper Fashion Show. Besides discussing his interest in recycled fashion, he also advises people not to follow the herd, but rather to deviate away from the norm and create your own understanding of what is cool. Throughout, there are also many interesting tidbits about Trenton that reveal what he embodies. This includes being a founder of one of the first gay fraternities in Canada, and how the creative energy at Trend Hunter has pushed him to new and exciting heights.

What is your favorite trend and why?

One of my favorite trends right now is fashion using unconventional materials. It forces designers to be even more creative than they usually are because they are working with something that can't do everything you want it to. When you really think about it, it can do so much that fabric can't. I was lucky enough to be able to actually go to the Cashmere toilet paper fashion show. It is actually done to help raise money for breast cancer research. They had all of these different Canadian designers come in and make different garments and everything is made out of toilet paper. It is really amazing how much they can change paper into things that could actually be worn down the street, as long as it's not raining.

How do you define cool?

I think that cool is about being original. People like Gwen Stefani, Lady Gaga, Kanye West, all of these people didn't copy what was already going on, they made their own thing and then everybody else followed. If you want to be cool, don't follow what is already happening. Find your own thing and make your own version of cool.

What is your favorite part about working at Trend Hunter?

Definitely my favorite thing about working at Trend Hunter has to be the people. It's great to come into the workplace and not only not dislike anybody, but actually love everybody that you're working with. I think that the positive energy that everybody gets from each other really helps us work during the day and helps us be social, interesting people in the evenings when we go out after work.

What's your favorite accomplishment?

My favorite accomplishment has to be being a founding member of the first gay fraternity in Canada. I founded it with someone who is now my best friend. The coolest thing about it for me is now that I graduated, the organization is still going on, so when I go back to my university and visit I can see all of these people who are still benefiting from an organization that I was one of the first people to start, and that's really rewarding.

What is one way you see businesses changing?

One of the best ways that business is changing right now is the prominence of start up companies that are started by really young people who are just taking a completely new approach to what the workplace means, how they treat their employees and what work is about. For example, here at Trend Hunter we are all sitting at the same tables, it's really collaborative and we are really encouraged to have a lot of creative ideas. When you have that different environment you get a lot of different ideas that consumers are really going to love.

Anything else you'd like to add about Trend Hunter?

Trend Hunter is a really awesome company now, it's been tons of fun working here and exploring the website and I am so excited for the future because there are so many creative people here and so many interesting projects that people are working on that it can only really get bigger and better.