‘Wear Your Label’: Maritime clothing brand tackles mental health issues head-on

FREDERICTON -- A Maritime clothing label is making a name for itself while simultaneously changing perceptions about mental health.

Co-creators Kayley Reed and Kyle MacNevin launched their ‘Wear Your Label’ brand nearly two years ago.

“We’re at a stage where we have this machine that we built,” said MacNevin. “How do we keep it running?”

The two entrepeneurs met while attending UNB in Fredericton.

“We were both students volunteering with a mental health organization, and both struggling with our own mental illness,” said Reed.

The two quickly collaborated to create a brand of clothing with messages that were difficult to find anywhere else.

“We both found support with one another and through therapy and medication, but we wanted to make it easier for others,” said MacNevin. “We wanted to be able to say, it’s okay not to be okay.”

That motto has become their most popular selling shirt amongst a line of products meant to break stigmas where they still exist.

“And to create visibility around this issue, which is so invisible,” said Reed.

Today, the company partnered with a Fredericton salon to send a message that ‘self-care is not selfish,’ in support of Liberty Lane, a second-stage housing organization for women leaving abusive relationships.

“It starts off your day and you feel fresh,” said Maria Hanna, who works at the salon, Posh Beauty Bar. “It’s just important to take care of yourself, and you’re not alone.”

Ten percent of the profits from the ‘Wear Your Label’ brand will go towards mental health agencies.

Earlier this year, the company partnered with a national retailer, Joe Fresh.

“When we have other large players come on board, specifically from an industry which is really notorious for making people’s mental health worse, it is a really huge opportunity to share that message on such a large scale, with so many other people to make a bigger impact,” said Reed.

Reed and MacNevin still refer to their brand as a start-up, but with orders being sent out to more than 30 countries, and counting, the future looks bright.

“People ask us, what’s your five year plan,” said MacNevin. “New York Fashion week was one of them. We did that in the first eight months we started, so it’s really hard to figure out where we’re going to be. We have our metrics and our goals, and we’re going to aim really high, and hope we can get there.”

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Nick Moore.