Local vintage and secondhand shop Hawk & Sparrow offers unique, sustainable and affordable clothing for everyone

Hawk & Sparrow is a vintage, secondhand boutique, located downtown at 126 James St. N. Other than vintage items, they also sell secondhand designer and a mix of everything to accommodate everyone’s styles.

“I don't just do vintage, I also do secondhand designer and then . . . a mix of things. So you can expect a 1950s sweater with a ritzy top and then a Louis Vuitton bag. There's a wide range of brands,” said Sarah Moyal, the founder of Hawk & Sparrow.

Before launching Hawk & Sparrow in 2011, Moyal had a strong fashion background. She worked for Dsquared2 in Milan at their headquarters and did styling in Toronto. 

She always wanted to open a clothing store. Originally, she had wanted to open a new clothing store, but she realized that buying inventory would be too expensive for her, so she switched over to second-hand. It worked for her, and it made her more interested in secondhand clothing.

“It's just so much more interesting to have one of everything. And every one of them is so unique,” said Moyal.

Moyal has experimented with making Hawk & Sparrow accessible through online platforms such as Etsy, but she now focuses most of her energy on the store itself, as she has found that it has been getting busier.

Moyal aims to make her store accessible and safe for everyone.

“I would say it's accessible to everyone and any direction of style that someone wants to go. If they want to play it a bit safe, we have that. If you want to go wild, we also have that,” said Moyal.

I would say it's accessible to everyone and any direction of style that someone wants to go and if they want to play it a bit safe, we have that. If you want to go wild, we also have that.

Sarah Moyal, Founder, Hawk & Sparrow

Most of the items are $5 to $25, and there are $5 mystery bags all year round. Moyal is also open to negotiations. She hopes that her customers will continue to find their favourite pieces at Hawk & Sparrow. 

“I hope that people will kind of find their unique style here, that they'll discover something about themselves, that they'll not feel a pressure to dress a certain way or follow a certain trend, that they'll just feel free to dress how they want, how they feel,” explained Moyal.

I hope that people will kind of find their unique style here, that they'll discover something about themselves, that they'll not feel a pressure to dress a certain way or follow a certain trend, that they'll just feel free to dress how they want, how they feel.

Sarah Moyal, Founder, Hawk & Sparrow

Over the years, she has experimented with different directions –– such as only vintage (an item from another era, usually from the 1930s-70s), vintage artisan (very old and rare pieces from the 1800s-early 1900s that are typically made by hand) and only designer –– for the shop. The current iteration of her shop has had the best reception from the Hamilton community, and she intends to keep it this way for the time being.

[spacer height="20px"]Amidst the overwhelming amount of scientific evidence in support of climate change, it would be virtually impossible to argue otherwise. Human influence, at least to some extent, has undoubtedly contributed towards global temperature increases and the rise of extreme weather events. But quitting meat and reducing my shower time isn’t going to change anything.

You should care about climate change; it’ll likely affect you or has already affected you in some capacity. It would be immoral, however, to place the guilt and responsibility of rectifying climate change on individual actions.

According to the 2017 Carbon Majors Report, 71 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions since 1988 can be attributed towards just 100 companies. Of those 100 companies, a mere 25 contribute to over half the total industrial-based emissions. It makes sense then to focus on changing these companies’ ways rather than target individual consumers.

Initiatives for consumers to “go-green” have not always been accessible nor even effective. Take, for instance, the proposed controversial plastic straw ban. While well-intentioned, straws only account for four per cent of all plastic waste, and advocates in favour of straws often emphasize their importance for those with disabilities. While any reduction in plastic waste is important, we must critically evaluate such “green” initiatives to determine just how much positive change they generate.

Rather than imploring consumers to make changes in their lifestyles, most of which will not impart serious, significant changes towards the climate, efforts should be placed on forcing companies to change their ways. The 25 major contributors of greenhouse gas emissions are largely oil and fossil fuel companies. Climate change initiatives thus should focus on changing, or even eliminating, this harmful industry.

If students have any responsibility, it would be to advocate for the reduction of fossil fuels, help further the development of clean, sustainable alternatives and hold corporations accountable for their emissions. It is your prerogative to participate in initiatives that reduce your carbon footprint but know that the actions of the individual can only go so far. Climate change is too large and too severe an issue to be mitigated solely by personal solutions.

These individual choices can only regain importance once we live in a society where undergoing the environmentally-friendly action is economically viable and accessible for all. There’s no doubt that solar panels are an effective alternative source of energy, but substantial benefits are not observed until a community of houses use solar energy rather than the few who can afford it. Students especially are often not in financially-available positions where they can afford to choose the most “environmentally-friendly” options.

It would be ignorant to shift the blame for climate change then on the working class. Instead, we must collectively work against corporate and governmental power to invoke meaningful systematic change that can then allow for individual responsibility to take precedence.

So, by all means, care about climate change. It’s important that we keep talking about these issues as without discussion, there can be no change. But there’s only so much that we as students can be expected to do. At the end of the day, the burden to reduce our carbon emissions to the levels required to save us all rests on the shoulders of those who made the mess.

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