Maybe Don't Call Your Fashion Brand 'Homeless'
Having your fashion line, barely a couple weeks old, being talked about across the country is the type of publicity most designers dream of. Unfortunately for Homeless Toronto, it's for all the wrong reasons so far. That's because the brand, started by 27-year-old Trevor Nicholls, seems to have taken the term "streetwear" a bit too literally in its designs.
Among the line of bleach-splattered "raggedy" crew necks and hoodies are a handful of pieces that have drawn the ire of homeless advocates and people of good sense, including tees and a mug emblazoned with the words "Change Please" and a $50 black hoodie that reads "Homeless" in big block letters.
Nicholls, who stressed that with the brand's first sale coming just last week, he's barely had time to process the backlash, says that it was part of the plan to give to charity all along.
"The project started out as a way to give back to the community," he says. "It still is that. I have been very close to this issue for a while: I lost a lot of money a couple years ago and ended up homeless myself. I still don't have a permanent place of residence, but I'm working full time to try to work through it, getting to a point in my life where I'm better off than I was."
"I know how difficult it can be when you don't have anything, how even the smallest things can help," he continues. "I wanted to give back in a small way. I still don't have money, but I do make clothes, and that's how I've been getting by among others things. If I can make clothes to give to people in need or maybe raise funds, that's the best way for me to do that."
Nicholls says they're still working out the logistics of who to donate to-he claims the company will give 40 percent of proceeds to homeless youth charities-but one of the organizations he has been mentioning in the press, Eva's Initiatives for Homeless Youth, told the Toronto Star it had no formal agreement set up as of Wednesday.
"They've said in a number of different ways on their website what they're planning to donate, but we don't have any arrangements made," said Alanna Scott, development and campaign director for Eva's Initiatives. "We don't have a business arrangement to have them promote Eva's or donate a portion of proceeds."
That will all be ironed out, Nicholls says, once the teams at Homeless has their feet beneath them. He thinks people have been too quick to point the finger.
"From the beginning, we expected it would be a little controversial and we were OK with that," he says. "We didn't expect the spin it's taken, at least not to this level. There's been a lot of negative social media, but I think a lot of that is from ignorance and misunderstanding. They're commenting without understanding what we're doing."
"It's unfortunate in that sense, but at the same time it's not necessarily the worst thing in the world. It's causing such a stir right now; internationally now, too. It's been such an expansive thing that's blown up and everybody is talking about it. Our main goal was to do something to give back and get this issue in the public eye. If people don't want to wear our clothes, I'm OK with that."
He says his partners have taken a step back from publicity since the backlash began, but the day after the brand's first sale that they were out on the streets of Toronto distributing sanitary products, tooth brushes, and so on-things that can make a difference when you don't have access to them. Of course, he may also just be covering his ass, but if the attention works out as a success for the brand, and it does follow through with its pledge, then it might not all be for naught.
"We decided on the 'change please' message [because] we liked the double meaning," he says. "It's almost like a social experiment. If somebody sees someone with such a bold statement, it might make them think about the issue. Homeless people tend to be invisible, and everybody looks the other way. But if you see these big bold red sweaters with the word 'homeless,' maybe it will trigger something with someone."
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