Duo taps need for brave talk
Startup hopes to wipe out stigma of mental illness
It’s not every day that people wear their hearts on their sleeve; or their chest. Vulnerabilities are usually hidden from sight and judgement. But one company is trying to change that.
A clothing line with the goal of creating conversations around mental health and eradicating its associated stigma, Wear Your Label was founded more than a year ago by Kayley Reed, 21, and Kyle MacNevin, 23. Struggling with mental health issues themselves — Reed is recovering from anorexia nervosa and MacNevin lives with generalized anxiety — the pair were frustrated with the stigma clouding their recovery.
“The biggest challenge is that mental health is invisible,” MacNevin said. If someone has a cast on their foot, it’s clear they have a broken appendage and that it’s healing. But there’s no plaster mold for mood disorders, schizophrenia or anxiety. That invisibility promotes stigmatization and leads to erroneous assumptions with damaging consequences, he added.
Wear Your Label produces tees, tanks and sweaters emblazoned with positive and honest messaging, such as: “Self-care isn’t selfish,” “Sad but rad” and “It’s okay to not be okay.”
“We’re trying to make mental illness obvious so that it’s not just tolerated but accepted and understood,” MacNevin said. But it goes beyond raising awareness. With the belief that clothing has the capacity to make the wearer feel something — whether confident, content or, more often, overweight, vulnerable and insecure — each piece is designed with internally focused self-care in mind. “Our clothing makes you feel like a superhero, world leader and rock star all wrapped into one.”
And the duo — who design and screen print the messaging from their office in downtown Fredericton, N.B. — deliver the clothing in a care package that includes mental health information and a handwritten note thanking the purchaser for their courage.
The models on the company’s website also have a personal connection to mental illness. “We don’t cast models, we cast role models,” MacNevin said. And their photos aren’t retouched, an all-too-common reality in the fashion industry. “We believe in perfect imperfection, raw emotion, and brand transparency. We don’t just talk the talk, we walk the walk,” the site proclaims.
Ten per cent of corporate profits are donated to mental health research organizations and a focus on partnerships with NGOs and charities around the world. Take the leggings they produce with the words, “Your story isn’t over” written down one leg. The leggings were part of a team effort with the Semicolon Project, an international organization that raises awareness for self-harm, depression and suicide.
Considering the immense response — more than 700 orders in the past month or so and hundreds of applications from wannabe role models looking to share their story and help others do the same — it seems Wear Your Label’s founders have tapped into a deep-seated need for brave conversation and leadership.
“Kyle is embodying his own struggles with mental illness and putting a positive psychology piece to it, saying ‘my mental illness is part of me but it doesn’t define me,’ “said Dr. Joan Wright, MacNevin’s therapist who he also calls a confidant and emotional mentor. “If we can say ‘what’s the opportunity in this,’ the sky is the limit,” Wright said. “He’s an inspiration to others.”
That inspiration started early. Soon after coming up with the idea, the founders were accepted into the Summer Institute at the University of New Brunswick’s Technology Management and Entrepreneurship program — an intensive three-month program that provides participants with funding for living costs and prototyping, as well as skills training and coaching. Noting that similar programs often focus on engineering and technology to the detriment of the arts, Dr. Dhirendra Shukla says his program takes the opposite route.
“We embrace everything that is art, culture and design,” he said, believing them vital components of business success. “We’re not looking for get-rich-quick schemes. We’re looking for people trying to make the world genuinely and authentically a better place.”
If they were simply printing slogans on T-shirts, that wouldn’t have impact, Shukla said. “We saw that spark and passion and wanted to rally around them.”
Wear Your Label initially was bootstrapped to avoid giving up equity, but eventually took a loan from Futurpreneur and engaged in revenue generating activities, such as designing clothes for Sweet 16s, to cover monthly cash flows and overhead expenses while investing in design and inventory.
Speaking engagements helped, as did sharing office space with design mentor Philip Leblanc.
It was the duo’s enthusiasm and go-getter attitude that most impressed Leblanc, a professional artist who met MacNevin and Reed while working as a designer-in-residence at the Summer Institute. “I saw them during their highs and lows,” he said. “They’re able to re-set and come at it swinging every morning.” He continues to work closely with them on design and supply issues.
He sees MacNevin’s capacity to absorb every piece of advice he receives and put it immediately into action as one of the company’s biggest strengths.
One that came in handy during the first five months when the founders put sales on hold to ensure their concepts were on the right track. “We’re so glad that we waited, looking back at our [first] designs, they were awful,” MacNevin said.
It will also serve them well in the face of challenges Leblanc foresees: remaining a unique force in their space and expanding into the “cut-and-sew” market, which they are determined to pursue.
“They need to make sure that they continue with their message and keep it simplified, Leblanc cautioned. While the current target audience is content with online purchasing, once the price point rises beyond a certain level, the desire for tactility will make retail outlets crucial.
“One of our goals is to get our clothing in stores,” said MacNevin, noting that 25 U.S. retailers have shown interest. But they’re taking those steps slowly. A planned Kickstarter campaign last month was postponed after an influx of orders re-prioritized their efforts. “The reason we started Wear Your Label is for people, not for us to grow into this mega enterprise, although that would be awesome,” he said.
Expansion into the U.S. and Britain are on next year’s agenda and the team is searching for champions to endorse their brand. They also plan to expand their line from casual items to clothing people can wear to work and on dates. “People who have vulnerabilities often have them during the most significant milestones of their lives,” MacNevin noted.