Milo & Dexter and the Future of Canadian Fashion

Farm to Fashion. It has all the makings of a manic trend: a catchy name, a sustainability-rooted ethos, and an obvious DNA path from its mother in the food world, Farm to Table. For a growing number of F2F believers, including Montreal designer Jobair Jaber—the founder of Canadian clothing and lifestyle brand Milo & Dexter—using material from natural and local sources is not about trailing a fad. Between trips to wool-supplying farms in Quebec and Ontario—essential to his collections—and life in the rural area of Dunham, Quebec, a place he now calls home, Jaber opens up about his craft-driven approach to creating a collection.

In conversation, Jaber comes across as both gentle and genteel, is far from strident, and embodies the same charm and softness that define Milo & Dexter’s clothing. From witty knitted sweaters adorned with endearing lobsters and lamb motifs to Canadian-milled vests and minimalist trench coats made with a 100 per cent cotton fabric, Ventile, the collection blends whimsy and refinement. These pieces, along with the brand’s origin story, feel heartwarming. The name Milo & Dexter pays tribute to a beloved pair of family dogs: Milo, a Maltese-Yorkie mix, and Dexter, a Pomeranian-Yorkie. Yet the brand’s collections are rooted in more than childhood nostalgia. They serve as both a lesson in Canadian history and an optimistic vision of the country’s future.

Photos by Joseph Dahdah.

“I find every conversation and day spent on a farm extremely refreshing because it’s the backbone of society.” —Jobair Jaber, founder, Milo & Dexter

Many of the designs are deeply connected to natural environments—fishing, farming, life on the water, and life in the countryside, Jaber says, explaining his vision. “It’s a total embrace of heritage, of where it all comes from, but from a more modern perspective of what Canada is becoming, or what it could become. It’s a reflection of a deep connection to the land, a deep connection to the people.”

Half of the label’s wool is sourced in Canada. Since Milo & Dexter’s launch in 2020, Jaber has worked to strengthen the domestic supply chain by increasing access to locally produced Canadian wool with hopes to establish a full-on Canadian wool belt comparable to those in Scotland and Ireland. While progress has been made, Jaber says industry challenges related to cost and the lack of diversity in wool and yarn creation mean he can’t meet his complete production needs. The pursuit of a fully local supply chain is nothing new for Jaber. Beyond his own work, he has championed the broader industry, serving on the board of the Canadian Wool Council and helping advance the profile of Canadian wool production.

To further this Canadian-centric purpose, many of Milo & Dexter’s campaigns and key pieces of promotional photography take a neorealist approach. Recently, Jaber sent Montreal-based photographer Nancy Guignard to fishing communities on the St. Lawrence River, where the brand gave fishermen sweaters to wear while they worked, and Guignard documented their day.

Jaber says that what is refreshing about farming is how no-nonsense and down-to-earth it is: a simpler, less flashy life with a certain coolness to it. A big part of the company’s educational approach has been the idea of “Get to know your farmer,” a slogan printed on tote bags and used in advertising. “A lot of problems in society can be solved by just getting to know people who are different,” he says. “We’re a bit removed, moving into cities and urban environments, so I find every conversation and day spent on a farm extremely refreshing because it’s sort of a backbone of society. It is where our food system comes from.” He notes that wool is natural byproduct of that system, and that clothing should serve its community and be relatable to people.

Photo by Joseph Dahdah.

Milo & Dexter’s mission is closer to a thesis than to a rallying cry: a project akin to a shift in thinking and a course correction in an industry that is rediscovering itself. It’s a fresh perspective for someone whose first foray into fashion was as a runway model for titans such as Giorgio Armani. In 2016, the 21-year-old Jaber met Armani when the late Piacenza-born fashion designer was 81. During the casting process, Armani watched every model walk and would make a signal if something needed changing, then he or his team would intervene, Jaber says. The designer remained involved with the shows and was very hands-on: he fixed the tie Jaber was wearing and adjusted his collar.

Although Jaber’s creativity has been fuelled more by film (he names Paolo Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty as a favourite) than by fashion, his backstage encounters gave him much-needed clarity for Milo & Dexter’s future. It was ultimately his education that pushed him to build a label distinct from some of the plastic-centric styles he had been modelling at the time. When Jaber began to distance himself from a career on the runway, he enrolled at McGill University to pursue a bachelor of commerce. There, his view of the industry shifted entirely.

When he did his business degree at McGill, he looked at fashion from an economic perspective and kept asking the same question: Do things need to cost so much? He found there was a perceived illusion around certain items that did not necessarily reflect quality. The contrast reinforced his growing skepticism about how value was being assigned in the industry, particularly when material composition did not seem to match cost. That line of questioning eventually extended to fabrics themselves—especially cotton and wool—and how they were sourced and used. It led him to consider what resources were available in his own country, and how a reimagined fashion system built around those materials could be both environmentally and economically beneficial.

Photos by Thomas Tessier.

 

Milo & Dexter is advocating for the next chapter in Canada’s fashion progress. “Canada has a chance globally to be a pioneer in shaping a more positive way,” says the brand’s founder Jobair Jaber, through how it modernizes, how it respects its vast land, the people within it, and the animals and nature that share it.

When he started the business, it was important to him that what they produced had intrinsic value, he says. They came from a world where natural fibres were the norm, he explains, so at Milo & Dexter, a large part of the design process involves looking at vintage Canadian-made garments. Montreal’s history as one of the largest clothing manufacturing centres in North America quickly fuelled his vision and ambition. “There’s a huge base of well-made pieces that were all natural fibres,” he says. “We dismantled that system, and it’s not rocket science to get back to it.”

While much has changed, we have arrived at a moment when fashion, technology, and climate politics are commanding growing attention as interconnected forces shaping the future of consumption and sustainability. Interest in natural fibres and sustainable collections is driving a renewed appreciation for materials such as wool, linen, and cotton.

The move away from these fabrics began with rayon, first produced in the United States in 1911, followed by nylon in 1935. Man-made fibres were originally seen as godsends because they promised affordability and easy care—qualities that ended up transforming the clothing industry and altering our closets completely.

Today, interest in how clothing is produced is gaining momentum across generations. From baby boomers to Gen Z, consumers are revisiting questions of craftsmanship, durability, and material origins as they reconsider the relationship between what we wear and how it is made.

For example, the Tribeca Festival premiere of the acclaimed documentary Farm to Fashion is bringing renewed attention to the idea of a harvest-to-haute-couture continuum. The film spotlights influential figures in upstate New York’s creative agricultural scene—including Isabella Rossellini and her 28-acre Mama Farm, an agrocentre and animal sanctuary turned fashion incubator in Brookhaven, New York—as well as Donna Karan’s community-focused Urban Zen line of clothing and products.

Photo by Thomas Tessier.

While there are synergies to what is happening stateside, Milo & Dexter’s next steps are about advocating for the next chapter in Canada’s fashion progress. As Jaber puts it, “I think Canada has a chance globally to be a pioneer in shaping a more positive way” through how it modernizes, how it respects its vast land, the people within it, and the animals and nature that share it. He points to Montreal as being one of the country’s hubs of hope.

Montreal is fertile ground for building something new, he says, noting the success of the Wainwrights and Canadian garment-production giant Peerless Clothing. The city and the province it is in have produced so many success stories because local communities support experimentation, he explains. “There’s a feeling that you can do what you want and experiment. And at the end of the day, no one’s going to judge you for it.”

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