WWD Digital Daily

Mr Porter Commits to Mental, Physical Health

- BY FIONA MA

The retailer is launching a fund-raising initiative and a series of features including personal stories and advice from mental health experts.

LONDON — Mr Porter is launching Mr Porter Health in Mind, an initiative aimed at providing a safe space for consumers to learn and speak about men’s mental and physical health.

Not only will Health in Mind help to raise funds for Mr Porter’s men’s health charity partner, the Movember Foundation, but it will also produce a series of lifestyle features such as stories from industry insiders and advice from mental and physical health experts in Mr Porter’s Journal.

“Mr Porter Health in Mind is a passion project for us as a business and as our audience has grown we’ve become more aware of the importance of making longterm commitment to an overarchin­g cause. We decided to use our platform to support mental health and wellness, a subject that affects all of us, and to build awareness of it through our content,” said Toby Bateman, managing director of Mr Porter.

The content portion will launch online today with features rolling out on a monthly basis. “We’re building stories around positive examples of individual­s and groups of men who embody the things in life that keep us happy, and who can share stories on keeping a sound mind and body. We now have a greater purpose and direction in developing this kind of content,” said Bateman.

The fund-raising portion will make its debut in October in London with an online and social media campaign. All proceeds raised will support existing Movember health initiative­s and additional charities and organizati­ons. Moving forward, Mr Porter and Movember will work on exploring other research funding opportunit­ies and programs in the mental health space.

“We hope to have influenced our customers in leading more stylish lives through our content, events and campaigns. With Health in Mind, we simply hope to have a similar effect. We’re not the experts, but we have an expert partner with Movember. By having an ‘always on’ conversati­on around health and wellness, we only hope to inspire our customers to lead happier and healthier lives,” said Bateman.

Movember is an annual event that takes place during November where men grow mustaches to raise awareness of a number of men’s health issues including prostate cancer, testicular cancer and suicide. The foundation raises funds to deliver research and support programs for men.

 ??  ?? An image from Mr Porter’s “Friendship” feature as part of its Health in Mind initiative.
An image from Mr Porter’s “Friendship” feature as part of its Health in Mind initiative.

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