About us
Breaking the silence around Mental Health one tee at a time!
Welcome to WhatLabel! We are An online UK based Mental Health clothing and accessories brand.
Whatlabel was one of the first dedicated Mental Health Clothing and accessories brands in the UK created by Mental Health advocate Sonny Hawkins.
As the successor to our sister project AMHA, our focus is on creating original products, designed around mental health positivity and self-care to not only encourage conversations, but hopefully break that silence and stigma that has surrounded Mental Illness for too long. Many of our designs are just for getting comfy at home when your battling alone in the dark.
We want to use clothing and accessories as a canvas, putting carefully crafted positive messages and various graphics promoting wellness, self-care, and highlight specific areas around Mental Illness.
Sonny’s experience of mental illness comes first-hand as a man who has struggled from a young age living with severe mental illness with all the labels and stigma that comes attached. Having Autism and struggling with physical disabilities on top has given Sonny a broad perspective and wishes to use Whatlabel as a force for change.
Some may think we are raising awareness about mental health in the fashion industry, but our core mission is to use clothing for good by creating designs to challenge the negativity, lies and misconceptions that have created the stigma around mental illness so many face on a daily basis and prevent so many from accessing help and support from the shame and embarrassment they associate with it.
We hope to bring the community together around the issue of mental health! 1 in 4 suffer with a mental illness, but every person on the plant has mental health.
Our clothing has been designed to be worn by everyone, not just for a minority. We see clothing like a canvas, and it’s the fastest way to get a positive message out into the world. When you create a blog like our sister site AMHA, there are only so many people we can reach through blogging and mental health resources which is why we have turned to using clothing and accessories. The positive statements we use on our products are not just for encouraging conversation, but to encourage the wearer when they are alone at home or stuck in hospital.
We are not here to create a cute tee for a trend that lasts five minutes on Instagram. It’s not only distasteful about a serious subject like Mental Illness, but also encourages waste through fast fashion which is why we partnered with Printful, a print on demand company to produce our products fresh per order and ship from fulfilment centres around the world.
Our designs are not about telling every stranger on the street that you struggle with a mental illness!
We have seen a few articles and comments about wearing clothing with mental health quotes and that it is considered attention seeking, but that very statement is stigma in itself especially as its frequently told to those who suffer with depression and anxiety.
Although we hope our designs can encourage conversations, we also created our products for those who just need that positive reminder on their bad days. We have products ranging from clean simple patterns and illustrations to subtle self-care quotes for those who don’t want something too on the nose to designs that clearly promote mental health with some home truths. We hope to cater for everyone as our range expands.
We want our customers to be reassured that everything we do comes from people who get it and understand from personal experience living with Mental Illnesses. We are well equipped to tackle the subject of stigma!
We are proud to say every product, including the development of this website has been made in house. We dont use agencies or outside graphic designers. Because of this sometimes it takes a little longer to get things live, or launch new designs. However thats the reality of living with illnesses and disabilities.
Our values
Courage
Mental illness takes courage.
It is hard to live with, it is hard to talk about, it is hard to support others living with it. Mental illness is stigmatised and misunderstood.
As a Clothing brand exclusively aimed at raising awareness around Mental illness, courage is a core value of Whatlabel, from our creation and development, to sharing our products, to our customers that wear our clothing, we know we are not printing kittens and puppies on our clothing so our hat goes off to you for supporting us as we carve our way into the big world.
Not for profit
Simply put, we are not here for profit.
As long as we make enough to keep the lights on, we’re happy. Any profit we make goes back into frontline projects and charities making a difference.
We are purely focused on you, the customer, the quality of our brand, clothing and designs with the goal of ending the stigma and silence surrounding Mental Illness.
Understanding
To build a brand around Mental illness takes the kind of understanding you from personal experience.
Mental illness is a hard subject, it demands respect and understanding you can only get from personally experiencing it from yourself and everything that comes with it.
Whatlabel has been created by people that get it, we have the labels, we have experienced the stigma, we have had the judgemental conversations. We have sat in front of the TV zonked out of SSRI and all the side effects they come with. We have battled for treatment and met the Drs who did not get it. We know what it is like to be judged because of our labels.
Our products are made with love! We care about our customers and we hope you will trust us as your go to brand.
commitment
We are in it for the long haul!
Whatlabel has been a challenge to develop with a lot of time, planning, colour samples and Pinterest sessions getting it right.
Creating a brand around mental illness comes with a weighty responsibility, one we take seriously. We constantly ask ourselves, What a mental health brand is supposed to look like? Are we acheieving our core mission and what can we do to improve?
We did not have many examples to guide us in the creation of Whatlabel, we recognise what we have created is unique, and we are thankful for the support we have received so far. We are very aware of the criticism’s many had about past failed mental health brands and we hope to learn from their failures. We do not expect Whatlabel to hit the ball out the park from the get-go and we will change and adapt as we go. We plan to be here for the long haul with your support.
Our Mission
We want to end the stigma and misunderstandings around mental illness, while becoming a trusted, go to mental health brand that you know and trusted is created by like minded people who get it!
*August 2020 update: We do not like how mental illness is currently being turned into a fashion trend with many Chinese wholesalers jumping on the band wagon and selling cheap knockoff designs that are resold on big name marketplaces. Many of the designs are tacky and stigmating without any thought all for the aim of profit.
*We believe clothing is a great way to raise awareness around mental illness, but only if it is done with the right intentions and designed and treated with respect. We hope instead of people purchasing from unknown sellers selling for a quick profit, you will choose us as a trusted source where we give back the profit to struggling front-line mental health charities.
Our Vision
We want to become an established, recognisable brand that has the power to spark conversation and break the silence around Mental Illness and wellbeing through positive encouraging designs using Apparel, Accessories and Homeware.
Because we recognise how complex, sensitive and stigmatised many of the conditions we are trying to raise awareness about, we continue to refine our clothing and build on our new brand, having already gone through a website and brand refresh for our 1st anniversary.
If you are a regular visitor waiting for what we have next, rest assured we have lots of incoming designs with plans to refine how we categorise clothing taking enthuses away from gender and focus on the messages we are sharing on our clothing.
