Highstreet clothing brand River Island and The Mix launched a campaigning partnership in 2016. It aims to raise £50,000 for The Mix through product sales, staff fundraising, in-store and online fundraising, and social media.
Hiding our mental health problems can be easier than sharing or speaking about them. However, it’s about time we wore our emotions and struggles! For 2017’s Mental Health Day, we had the opportunity to work with River Island to design five “I can feel…” t-shirts to help kickstart conversations about mental health.
Together with young designer Ashish, we came up with five exclusive unisex t-shirts which launched in October, ready for World Mental Health Day on the 14th! Selling at £18 each, 30% of the proceeds were donated to The Mix.
Wearing t-shirts that express these kinds of emotions can be scary for some, so we have different styles and colours to suit you. Some subtle and some bright. At The Mix we’re a very vibrant organisation, we don’t like to shy away. We want to be seen and heard, and we want to help you do the same!
“We are proud to be able to support The Mix in their mission to empower young people with the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to face the challenges of twenty first century living,” – Josie Cartridge, Customer Director at River Island
River Island are supporting us in various ways. They’re directing their huge online shopping customer audience to The Mix website by featuring links to our services such as the helpline, webchats, live chats, counselling and articles on various issues young people might be facing.
As well as this, River Island staff have been given the opportunity to support the partnership first hand through exciting and challenging fundraising events, helping them develop new skills with our empowering and life-changing volunteering programmes.
On World Mental Health Day 2017, River Island featured The Mix on its homepage, showcasing information about our partnership and a competition giving customers a chance to win vouchers. This has drawn more attention to our page and created a space for a range of people to talk about their personal stories and struggles. We saw Instagram Stylists, model Olivia Campbell, Russell Brand, KissFM breakfast show hosts Melvin and Rickie, Camilla from Love Island and many more sharing their love of the campaign!
“We have the opportunity to take advantage of our global brand platform to raise awareness and funds for a worthy cause and hopefully make a little difference to this generation and the next.” – Josie Cartridge, Customer Director at River Island
Given that our respective audiences are the same, this partnership was perfect! Reaching out to young people through an industry that brings confidence and empowerment through fashion is a new and exciting way to get the conversation started around mental health. We hope this collaboration is the first of many with River Island!
Press Links:
http://stapico.com/tag/RIxTheMix
https://www.thefashionisto.com/shop/river-island-the-mix-2017-charity-t-shirts/
http://www.menshealth.co.uk/style/these-t-shirts-will-encourage-you-to-talk-about-mental-health
http://www.fashionbeans.com/2017/best-new-menswear-pieces-290917/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZyvYABHGWY/?hl=en&taken-by=dfmarin