COVER STORY
long line out the front of our Preston office that people were stopping in cars asking what was going on . Due to Covid-19 restrictions , we had to limit the number of people in the store , while also wanting to take the opportunity to tell them to learn more , do more and take more action .
I remember clicking a button on our website that enabled products to continue to sell when they were sold out . I didn ’ t feel bad about it because people were happy to wait four weeks for a T-shirt . Pre-selling our merch was essentially crowdfunding our business .
YWH : The BLM movement and the increased visibility of First Nations merchandise and fashion have created larger demand and interest for brands like yours . Are there opportunities that have come from the quite rapid increased level of attention ? LT : I have a Master ’ s in Public Health , and as a health practitioner , the T-shirt business was only ever really to fund the work of what is now the Clothing The Gaps Foundation ( previously Spark Health ). I initially thought of the T-shirts as the fuel for funding the health promotion . What I didn ’ t realise was the power of a tee , and the difference a T-shirt can make in sparking important conversations . People wear their values , and I think the T-shirt opens people up for that . Now , we realise that the brand has a huge impact , and as a social enterprise it enables the impactful work of the Clothing The Gaps Foundation , to add years to Aboriginal peoples ’ lives .
Even though I ’ m the CEO of Clothing The Gaps , I ’ d also say I ’ m the creative director , ensuring that everything we present to the world is Mob-centred , and a reflection of what Mob ’ s feeling .
People wear their values .
YWH : I talk to a lot of people who appreciate the open communication around what merchandise is Ally Friendly and what ’ s Mob Only . Is that something you ’ ve always had ? LT : It ’ s something that we learnt to communicate really early on . We were getting lots of messages from non- Indigenous people wanting to be supportive , but not wanting to cross the line between appropriation and appreciation . We knew we needed to do something ! So we came up with the symbols and messaging behind ‘ Mob Only ’ and ‘ Ally Friendly ’. It was a massive moment for the business , as it was a green light for a lot of people . A signal to say , ‘ You can wear the tee .’
Another thing we ’ ve always done is include postcards and stickers with our
T-shirts that provide more opportunities for us to educate and share our message . One of our first postcards was , ‘ Cool . You brought the tee – what next ?’ How do you continue to privilege Blak voices everywhere in your life , and make sure that allyship doesn ’ t start and finish with buying a T-shirt ?
Ensuring that non-Indigenous people understand that wearing a tee is just one step in a continual journey of allyship and education is so important to us .
YWH : You ’ ve already mentioned that health is very close to your heart and a key motivator for the business . What else do you see as a key driver for the business to exist and grow ? LT : It ’ s become clearer over time . Our byline is uniting people through fashion and a cause , and our point of difference from lots of other brands is that we are merch with a message . The focus is on the message . If this tee isn ’ t going out in the world and creating a conversation , then it isn ’ t something Clothing The Gaps wants to do . This is our strength . It ’ s also probably the hardest part of our business .
We ’ re not government funded and we don ’ t have philanthropic support . I ’ m really proud of that . We ’ re running a sustainable social enterprise business . We need to be able to create not just the best clothes for Mob , but the best clothes in the industry . We ’ ve got a B Corp ►
28 | www . insideretail . com . au May 2023