True Hamiltonian highlights community and hometown pride Supercrawl 2023 

For the past decade, Max Francis and his local clothing brand True Hamiltonian have offered the community quality apparel to help showcase their love for the steel city

True Hamiltonian returns to Supercrawl, this time showcasing the designs from their newly launched “Hamilton is rock, Hamilton is metal” line in their Rock N’ Roll runway show on Sep. 8.

Max Francis, the founder of True Hamiltonian, was born in Florida but he grew up in Hamilton. Before launching True Hamiltonian 10 years ago, Francis worked for an engineering company in Burlington while also working part-time as an actor. 

The idea for brand came to Francis because he was tired of hearing people making fun of Hamilton. So, he came up with his own t-shirt design, with words “Hamilton is Home,” to proclaim his love for his hometown. People started asking him where he'd gotten his shirt from, so he decided to turn it into a business, allowing every proud Hamiltonian to share their hometown pride with others. 

“Whenever I [went] to auditions in other cities, they would ask me where I'm from. I'd say "I live in Hamilton," and they would always make fun of Hamilton. So, I remember thinking at the time, “screw you, I love this city,”” said Francis. 

Francis has a lot of pride, passion and love for the steel city and thoroughly enjoys working on True Hamiltonian. He believes this is what makes his business stand out compared to others. 

“People always ask me, "Why do you like Hamilton so much?” And I tell them, “I don't like Hamilton. I'm in love with Hamilton,” said Francis. 

For their fashion show at the Supercrawl, most of their models were from the Hamilton community. Some of the models in the lineup this year include a real estate agent, a hockey player, a member of a local band, tattoo artists and local artists. Francis wanted to have people from all walks of life to represent their clothing, so it resonates more with the community. 

By having local Hamiltonians modelling their clothes, the show felt more representative of the Hamilton community and the diversity of the people here.  

“I've got a lot of people from the community [in the show]. . . I have people that are from every walk of life, I just tried to find people from the community that I [felt] would fit in with what we're trying to do that year. I also find they’re way more excited about doing it than, say, a model would be,” said Francis. 

Overall, Francis and True Hamiltonian wanted to show how far the brand has come over the past decade. In this time, the brand has reached many new milestones, including being the first fashion designer to showcase at the Tim Hortons Field before Labour Day. 

True Hamiltonian had a booth at Supercrawl as well where they sold their apparel. Their items can also be found at their online store.