STRANGERS, MADE SOMEONE.

THE COLLECTION FOR EVERYONE - COMING JANUARY 2021

What do you think of when you hear the word ‘stranger’? 

Perhaps the first thing that comes to mind is: “Stranger danger!”, or the age-old warning, “Don’t talk to strangers!”. Whichever it may be, we can all agree that this word usually comes with some pretty negative baggage, and while it may just be a word we can casually and easily toss around, its cuts can run far deeper than we may realise. 

Now, think of the word ‘someone’. 

This seven-letter word holds everything its counter-word does not. Unlike the word ‘stranger’, the word ‘someone’ carries value, worth, recognition and above all, it gives those on whom it is placed a true sense of humanity. 

It’s no wonder that we live in a world where everyone wants to be a ‘someone’. For some that’s someone known; someone who has influence and someone who holds power. For others, that’s simply someone who is loved; whose value is realised and who knows the comfort of care. However, for most of us, there is the deep desire merely to be someone to someone; to know that we mean something and to feel the sweet sensation that comes with being recognised - truly seen and truly known.

In a society that only really acknowledges the someones, why would anyone want to be a stranger?

In pursuit of helping those who, by no fault of their own, find themselves bearing this label, we need to ask ourselves the difficult but imperative question: 

How can we make the stranger, someone? 

As we answer this, we begin the journey of erasing the division we’ve created within our society and our humanity by eliminating the gap between being a stranger and being someone. 

WHO ARE THE STRANGERS?

As a fashion label with a heart devoted to the outside, we’ve always considered it our duty to fight for the strangers of this world:

To fend for those who are pushed aside, overlooked and undervalued. 

To bring in the misfits, those who feel mismatched and misunderstood. 

To welcome the outsiders, those who are told they simply do not belong. 

So often these individuals are those who are experiencing homelessness. Be it by way of past mistakes or recent misfortune, these are the world’s ‘strangers’ and despite the many difficulties that face them daily, much more burdensome is the hardship that comes with being invisible. While many may reject them and lend no more than a blind eye, to us they are seen and to us, they mean so much.

It is so easy for us to speed through our day, getting from Point A to Point B as quickly as possible and in the process, robbing ourselves and those around us of the opportunity for a mere moment of connection. Yet, it is often these small, brisk, and spontaneous interruptions that present us with the opportunity to draw out the someone within the stranger. It is these detours from our routinely rush that allow us to enjoy the simple necessity of kindred humanity.

The purpose of this collection is to encourage our society to start to look at, not past, the stranger. We believe that when we choose to recognise the humanity within one another, we are able to see the similarities that connect us all. We are able to understand - through empathy and compassion - that behind the unfamiliar faces before us, there is a narrative not much different to our own. A narrative filled with love, joy, heartache, pain, highs, lows, struggle and greatness. While each story’s ending and the journey toward it may look a bit different from one to the next, what remains constant is that each of us shares in the unique emotional experiences that make us human. When we see, really see, this truth in the strangers around us, it becomes difficult not to acknowledge them as someone. 

WHO ARE THE SOMEONES?

No matter the name by which you are called, or the circumstances in which you are living, it is so important that you know that you are someone. The stories that have shaped you and the experiences that have brought you here are all part of the one-of-a-kind attire we wear called life. 

Each of us - so distinct yet so similar in the sense that we are all human, we are all real, we are all someone - has a place in this world. In taking ownership of this place and the purpose we have ourselves, we also have the responsibility and the task to help those not yet there to find their place too. 

As a nation, as a society and as a humanity, it is time for us to love beyond easy and to act beyond comfort so that even the stranger - unfamiliar as they may be on the surface - knows that on the inside, they are someone.

When you are someone, you mean something.

When you mean something, you have value.

When you have value, you understand worth.

When you understand worth, you can give worth.

And when you can give worth, you can redeem humanity - the common ground that knits our worlds-apart lives, together.

This collection seeks to redefine what it means to be human. While the fabric of each piece may make a fashion statement, the meaning it carries aims to make an impact. We want every single individual who wears this collection to also wear its message - boldly, confidently and proudly. 

This collection not only emphasises the meaning behind the someone, but it gives greater meaning to the stranger. 

It sees the stranger as more.

It makes the stranger matter.

It calls the stranger, someone.

STRANGERS, MADE SOMEONE.

From the very first thoughts, to the very last threads, our hope is that every piece of this collection reminds you of just how special you are. We want you to know that regardless of who you are, where you are from, what you are going through, how you have failed and where you have succeeded, you have infinite value. If you have ever been considered a stranger, we want you to know that to us, you are someone. And if you’ve ever considered another a stranger, we want to challenge you to look just that little bit deeper and to step into the uncomfortable space that requires us to care, to see and to love. 

Together, let us look to those who are left on the outside and let us help them to see the worth that bubbles within them. Let us remind them that they are not just another stranger but rather, that they are someone too. 

Just like us.

Just like you.

This is STRANGERS, MADE SOMEONE.

The collection for everyone.

Everyone.

AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE JANUARY 2021