I’m worn this way

OH SHIRT: AVOID PRIDE IF YOU HATE SOCIAL JUSTICE

A message in black and white – and rainbow.

Closing Joburg Fashion Week in August – which happens to be Women’s Month – celebs, politicians and the glitterati pounded the runway with “We should all be feminists” shirts to rousing applause from the audience.

The statement borrowed cues from Maria Grazia Chiuri, the fi rst female artistic director of Dior, who put the same slogan on T-shirts at her debut show in 2016.

The phenomenon went global. But the phrase “we should all be feminists” can be traced back to Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who used the slogan as her book title in 2014.

The book addresses the constructs of masculinity and how women and men need to embrace being feminists.

Before the Fashion Week show, T-shirts For Change was already retailing similar shirts for men and women with “Feminist” or “Wild Feminist” driving the idea that we all need to be involved in the discussion of equality, women’s rights advocacy as well as dabble in the deconstruction of patriarchy in a way that’s not threatening to the sometimes fragile male ego.

The shirts gave a voice to allies of the movement, in particular with Joburg Pride painting the town rainbow, T-shirts for Change is again calling on more people to be allies thanks to the new Love is Love line that joins the feminist shirt range.

“My aim was not to challenge masculinity, but rather to challenge the stigmas and stereotypes associated with the word ‘feminist’,” says T-Shirts for Change creator Nicole Jowett about the initial shirts.

“I wanted to get men on board to further emphasise that feminism is not only for women. In terms of masculinity, I think standing up for women’s rights, or for any cause for that matter, is a very masculine thing to do. It takes a strong person to stand for something that is so fundamental,” she adds.

The same holds true for rainbow designs that were recently launched. These shirts feature the word “Human” in a bold font but made out of the pride flag. The other design features a rainbow heart.

Jowett knows that these shirts give her, and others like her, the opportunity to support basic rights.

“Aligning myself with queer people is aligning myself with human rights, equality for the LGBTQ community is a basic human right,” Jowett says.

But T-shirts For Change is not paying lip service to global and local social movements. It’s actually raising funds for programmes involved with women’s rights or now gay rights.

“I am supporting three different charities – Frida Hartley Women’s Shelter, Vision Africa Education Programmes and the Luleki Sizwe Foundation, which is an LGBT+ charity.

“These are all cases that are important to me but also that I feel are relevant to South Africans now. Empowerment is important to me and, I think, to all South Africans, and all these causes are empowering South Africans in some way or another. R100 from every item sold is donated to the relative charity,” Jowett says.

Thanks to a collaboration with Masumpa Merchandise Branding that has given good rates for printing, the price of the tees are kept low while maximum funds

My aim was not to challenge masculinity, but rather to challenge the stigmas and stereotypes associated with the word ‘feminist’.

Nicole Jowett T-Shirts for Change creator

can pass on to the charities.

Its success is phenomenal, especially when you consider that it is been done through word-of -mouth marketing.

“Initially, all I set out to do was raise R10 000 for Frida Hartley Women’s Shelter by donating R100 from every item sold to them and hopefully starting some conversations about what being a feminist means.

“That R10 000 became R20 000 and T-Shirts For Change has since become so much more than what I had initially planned.

“I quickly saw that the combination of a fashion-forward tee and contributing to a good cause was very effective, so my aim is to be able to create real change not only by way of funds raised but also through raising awareness

for causes we as South Africans care about,” Jowett explains.

In the end, she helped create something that allows people to engage with a piece of clothing in unique ways. Each purchase comes with a little card with a call to action to join a movement, whether to wipe out homophobia or support women’s rights.

How thrilling that you can show support by just wearing a simple T-shirt.