The Oi Essentials Collection
Introducing The Oi Essentials Collection
We’ve been so excited for this collection for a while now and here it is, OutsideIn introduces to you the Oi Essentials Collection! A collection designed to be our new classics, the must have clothing that works with any style! Hence the name 'Essentials'. It’s something all brands have, why? Because it’s more than just a name, it’s what a brand stands for, it’s the vision. For us this collection has amazing designs from Hoodies and hats to the Tees but it’s going far beyond that. It’s getting back to the basics of what makes this brand more than just a company. The new collection was a chance to concentrate on creating an even better platform for our ‘Wear One, Share One Concept'. That's where you come into play. Are you in?
Back to Basics
For the past two years a huge part of our journey has been travelling around the UK in the OI van doing pop-up shops. What we’ve loved is that no matter where we go, people love the ‘Wear One Share One’ concept, they love the challenge of giving out an additional product to someone who is living on the street. For us at OutsideIn, the stories is what we look forward to hearing, why? Because we know what we are doing is making a difference and making an impact. The challenge goes beyond just giving out one of our products, it’s interacting, creating conversations, and connecting with real people. This can lead to an abundance of opportunities, beyond just compassion. Instead we can help connect people who can help, offer guidance and advice on things we know or places that can help such as hospitals.
So for this collection, we wanted to work on a better platform for sharing stories. We thought about the potential barriers that people may have with sharing their stories. We found out that we needed a space for people to openly talk about who they meet or how it has changed their perception of what it means to be ‘homeless.’ When David started OutsideIn over two years ago, for him it was never motivated for creating the best clothes, it was about creating a brand that was like no other, one that went beyond inspiring society but empowering them to make true and lasting change in their city. To rewrite homelessness across the globe. This was his story, but his heart for this is to see others create their own stories. Whether that is in being Oi ambassadors and giving out our products to those who need them most or being inspired by this movement and creating their own. We all have a part to play, every part is essential.
The OI Essentials Collection
The Essential Collection has been an exciting journey for the team. From coming up with new colours, designs, to the way the clothes fit. It's not been easy and it has taken a lot of late nights, sample upon sample and a heck tonne of coffee… but we got there! For the Oi Essentials we chose to focus on the core of who we are, the meaning of the name ‘OutsideIn’ - which is to bring those who feel on the outside of society In. It’s bold and simple but the design stands out, leaving it more open to delve deeper into the meaning of why we do what we do. With grey, black and green being our chosen palette, there's a colour for everyone. The Oi Essential Collection is the clothing you have in your wardrobe as a staple week in week out style piece.
I remember in the summer being asked at events “So what’s your brand called?” Confused at them looking around our shop, I soon realised all they that was on focus was our two taglines, ‘Hope Sweet Hope’ and ‘Home Homeless Human.’ Great as these phrases are and no doubt are to become a big part of our brand, they didn’t let people know who we were. We had forgotten our name! There’s also the debate is it Oi, O..i or OutsideIn? To save any family or friend fallouts, it’s OutsideIn and Oi for short. So as you’ll see from this launch we’ve focused on OutsideIn being a focal point of the collection and one that we plan to have here for a long long time. With new hoodies, t-shirts and beanies, there is an item for every generation to feel a part of the Oi fam.
It’s All about the Giving
We have also thought more into the giving products for this launch. Last Christmas when we were giving out our thermal hats, a lot of those who were living on the streets were requesting pom-poms. So for this season we are not just bringing them back for customers, but now they will be a staple part of our giving items this winter.
We are very proud to have our very own Oi street team on the streets of Belfast twice a week, not only handing out our products but literally helping in whatever way needed in that moment. Last Thursday night that consisted of making cups of tea and coffee, handing out our products, catching up with our friends. We were also able to provide info on rehabilitation, directions to food banks and emergency shelters. Everyone and every story is unique, everyone we meet on the streets has different needs to be met. Whether that is food, help to find a shelter or being reconnected with family members. We found that It all starts by saying hello.
We’ve had some inspirational stories make their way to us in the office. Whether through conversation, letter or dm, there’s nothing better for us when we get to share them over a team meeting and hear of the impact you guys are making globally. So we thought, how do we make this storytelling process even easier? So we created 3 new concepts:
Tag of Hope - For all our long serving Oi fam members, you’ll remember our Tag of Hope. The reason we created the tags was because we believe that words hold so much power. So we want you to help write your own personal message of hope for someone who is living on the streets in your city, something they can hold onto and feel encouraged by.
Giving Guidelines - Creating the best giving experience means knowing how best to give your products out, whilst making sure you are safe. So we chatted to our Oi team and some local charities to get some useful tips on how best to do this. Find the new guidelines here.
Oi Postcard - We are excited for this one. So many of you share your stories with us at events, so we wanted to create the easiest way to share these online so that you can inspire others on how the simple act of giving can transform someone’s life. Every time you choose to give out the product yourself we provide you with a postcard that you can send back to us or even more simple, scan the QR code and email us. You can share your story here.
