Fashion

The Future Is Stigma Free — And This T-Shirt Brand Wants You To Know It

by Kali Borovic

There is a graphic tee for every single occasion, but not all of them hold the same power. Wear Your Label's "The Future Is Stigma Free" tee isn't just a cute slogan. The affordable shirt helps to end the stigma around mental health through the proceeds and the message, so that you can look good and feel great about what you're wear. A little fashion goes a long way.

When it comes to graphic tees, there are different levels. There are the ones that look good, the ones that do good, and others that do both. This is the latter. You've likely heard the phrase, "the future is..." a good amount of times this year. Well, this one isn't followed by the word, "female." Instead, it ends in "stigma free."

The idea is to end the stigma that surrounds mental health once and for all. Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor, and Saks OFF 5th got together with Wear Your Label to create the shirt. The $25 shirt donates all proceeds to that charity, which is "a charitable organization focused on ending the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental illness."

“Wear Your Label was developed as a response to first-hand experience with mental illness. I personally live with ADHD, depression, and anxiety which causes me to have consistent feelings of inadequacy, or self-doubt,” Kyle MacNevin, CEO and co-founder of Wear Your Label tells Bustle. “I thought I was alone in feeling this way, until I started sharing my story, and used the medium of fashion to engage with so many others who are impacted by mental health."

The shirt itself is unisex, so it's made for everyone. It's also machine washable, made in the United States, and cotton. Basically, it's your average tee with a bigger message than ever. Not to mention that it's extremely affordable. Brands can get a little too carried away with marking up the price of a tee when it goes to a good cause, but this one is accessible for everyone.

It doesn't stop at a tee, either. The shirt is in support of the new campaign to end the stigma around mental health. Saks Fifth Avenue, Saks OFF Fifth, Lord and Taylor, and Hudson Bay are involved in Wear Your Label's initiative. That means that there's more than one way to shop.

While the tee is fully sold out of three sizes on the Saks Fifth Avenue website, you can shop form any of the other brand's websites as well. All the money will go to the exact same place and the design is exactly the same. This is what teamwork looks like in fashion. It's incredible to see these brands, who are all competitors, come together for such an incredible cause.

Courtesy Wear Your Label

Giving money is a great way to get involved for a cause that you believe in. But what's even bigger is spreading the word and opening the conversation around the topic as well. A shirt itself will not make the world a better place — the person wearing it will. That's why the brand urges people to use the hashtag #TheFutureIsStigmaFre on Twitter and Instagram to keep the initiative going. Each hashtag will result in a $5 donation up to $100,000.

"Wear Your Label’s product and slogan t-shirt ‘The Future is Stigma Free’ in partnership with Hudson’s Bay Company is just the beginning of our efforts to change the narrative about mental health," MacNevin says. "Our plan is to take on new opportunities and continue collaborations down the line to encourage open conversation around mental health and break the stigma surrounding the subject.”

If that's not a reason to get talking, then I don't know what will. So go ahead and snap that Instagram picture looking good in the shirt, because it's going to pay off in the long run. The world needs more purposeful fashion, and this is a great start.

The size guide on the brands' websites will let you know exactly which unisex size will fit you. So stop reading this and start the conversation around ending mental health, because if the future is going to be stigma free, you have to start somewhere.