Stranded Apparel
Stranded Apparel are more than just a t-shirt company. They have affiliation with charities and donate 10% of each total checkout fee to help the homeless. The money raised is shared equally between the two charities; Crisis and Shelter.
"I've always had an interest in fashion and to make my own brand is great. The link with a charity allows us and people who don’t necessarily donate to charities to give back in another way. We do as much as we can to highlight issues via social media. In the future it would be great to be able to attend Crisis/Shelter events. A clothing company with a 10% donation allows us to do our bit. Going out and meeting the homeless, we know what it means for them to receive support from us."
The idea behind Stranded Apparel emerged from a college project based on homelessness. My personal favourite tee from the collection is of the big issue vendor, how this tee came about interested me so I pressed the CEO for further information on the design of this piece.
"With the project I was working on, I spoke to a Big Issue vendor (Mark) in my city centre and he was more than happy to have his photo taken. The concept for the design itself is to convey how society passes vendors by."
The first collection was all about outlining what the brand is about and what Stranded Apparel represent. S.A felt a small collection that related to their ethos was the best way to launch a brand which is trying to avoid becoming 'just another brand'. Stranded are currently finalising their Spring Collection and it should hit the store very soon.
Stranded Apparel have had help from close friends, their models and now people contact them to help out. I spoke to the head designer Jordan about his thoughts on running the design of the company.
"It’s great to see people wanting to help expand our brand. It is sometimes hard because you can create a design which you like, that others don't. It’s about finding that middle ground. I’ll often have friends offer comments about the likes/dislikes of the design and then go back to refining it."
With regards to other UK apparel companies, Stranded stick to wearing their own clothing, however can appreciate brands such as Abandon Ship Apparel and Represent Clothing. S.A describe themselves as; different, purposeful, bold, creative, and emerging.
For their first lookbook and video the brand used a group of friends and will be using the same models again for the spring/summer collection.
For their first lookbook and video the brand used a group of friends and will be using the same models again for the spring/summer collection.
"It’s a good laugh when
we film and when it’s all edited, it’s great to see! We’ve just run a
competition on Facebook with the prize being to come and join us this spring!
It was a great competition and a chance for others to get involved. We’re
looking forward to it!"
