Young creatives bringing back 2000s hip-hop trends in Montreal’s fashion scene

Ceasetoexist, a brand co-owned by two Montreal-born Black creatives, pays homage to 2000s hip-hop fashion trends and their African-American heritage. After three years running, the brand recently gathered hype in the Montreal fashion scene.

“It’s a heavy emphasis on excessive layering and oversized silhouetting,” said Sheldon Parris, the founder of ceasetoexist.

“We just grab from anything that we talk about or discuss,” the 22-year-old said. “Either new or old, we grab from. If it’s a video game, we’ll show each other and talk about it and just grab different parts of it that we really, really enjoy.”

Parris adds that he and co-owner Nathaniel Cozier-Weismuller took “bits and pieces” from their childhood and African-American heritage to come up with the designs.

“When I was younger and as well as Parris, we were both a little bit overweight,” recounted Cozier-Weismuller.

“We kind of struggled finding clothes that we felt good in, but also looked good in. We always leaned more towards the looser fitting clothes, the baggier fitting clothes.”

Cozier-Weismuller attributes their style inspiration to 90s and 2000s hip-hop silhouettes.

Growing up as the only son in the family, Parris couldn’t rely on hand-me-down clothes from his five sisters. Instead, his mother bought most of his clothes from the Black-owned American brand FUBU.

Parris’s life would turn around after learning what the name FUBU stands for.

“It was ‘For Us, By Us’ – essentially meant for Black people made by Black people, because we weren’t represented in the industry too often,” said Parris.

“As a kid, I was nine years old and I just realized you could add concept and meaning towards clothing,” he said. “I was just absolutely dedicated to it afterwards. And then from 16 onwards, I just picked up a sewing machine designed by myself

Parris learned how to sew and design from YouTube videos and even undertook a sewing and pattern making mentorship at 16, the same age when he began conceptualizing ceasetoexist. By the summer of 2020, he and Cozier-Weismuller launched the brand with clothes and bags now being sold at pop-up shops and local boutiques.

On February 18 of this year, their runway debut reached full house at the Montreal Biodome where they showcased only 19 looks from nearly 100 outfits they sketched for the fashion show.

Parris and Cozier-Weismuller often joke about receiving a 0% grade on their sketches and mood board if they went to fashion school.

“But for us, how we are as creatives, I think it works super, super well,” said Cozier-Weismuller.

“In reality, Parris and I, we’re just two young creatives from Montreal,” he said. “We don’t have a name for ourselves at all. So, the fact that we were able to sell out of 350 tickets to our first ever show at the Montreal Biodome for a fashion show in Montreal is an absolutely amazing experience.”