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Truth owner and designer Renia Pruchnicki started Truth in 2001 from her apartment in downtown Toronto, Canada. After graduating from Toronto's Ryerson University with a degree in Fashion Design in 1994, she worked for 7 years as a designer for a few different companies. Her experience was more technical, having designed ski and snowboard outerwear and later cosmetic bags and technical backpacks. When her employer suddenly went out of business, Renia found herself in a rather unpleasant position. As the saying goes: When one door closes, another opens. And so began TRUTH...

With the little savings she had and a small bank loan, plus the help of a "self employment assistance" business program, Renia launched Truth's very first line of belts in 2001. In those days Renia sewed everything herself and the company's headquarters was literally in the solarium of her downtown apartment.

Having no experience working with leather, Renia naturally started out using the technical materials that she was already familiar with. As it turned out, the "leather looking" belts became very popular within the vegan community. Not only were Truth products original, but the longevity of Truth belts was unparalleled in a market where most other leather-looking belts tended to fall apart within a few months. Truth's reputation for producing durable yet fashionable non-leather accessories spread quickly.

Choosing to be a Canadian manufacturer is no easy task! One year after the start of Truth, Renia realized that she had no choice but to take on a full-time job and run Truth on the side. In 2002, Renia began work as a designer for California Innovations, a Canadian company specializing in insulated products such as lunch bags and soft-sided coolers. Truth was expanding and Renia found the grueling schedule impossible to maintain, so she negotiated working part-time while she ran her company.

"In starting Truth, I wanted to create a life for myself that I loved; and what I love doing is designing products" says Renia. "When I started this company, I was not a vegetarian and was not even thinking of pursuing anything along those lines in terms of a market. But the path that I took opened my eyes to many things and over the years and my diet slowly became mostly vegetarian."

Live your truth, and respect others'.