https://www.the-outrage.com/ - This is a US activist hub. Through community and fashion, The Outrage is an online hub that makes it easy and accessible for anyone to engage and support the cause of their choice. They share community programming and what some may refer as ‘educationals’ with special speakers sharing their techniques, and protests & campaign plans. Their location is in Washington, DC so their main focused area in there and in Philadelphia, PA. The causes being supported vary and are created by the communities involved. Some examples include “Families Belong Together”, “Women’s March” and “March for Our Lives”. This is a hub so to be part of this community you will need to become a member of The Outrage community.
I haven’t seen anything like this in Canada. Sure, there are activist hubs and apparel activist brands but they all seem to be cause specific. For example: https://www.homelesshub.ca/ - This is a hub for communities in Canada whose main focus is to prevent and end homelessness in Canada. However, this hub doesn’t have a store. …maybe they’ll sell their stuff on The Realized Potential Market…
https://www.sectionthirtyfive.com/ or https://talkvegantomeclothing.com/ are online stores in the same field but with a very specific cause in mind.
Section 35 is a street wear small business brand based in Vancouver. This is a brand that recognizes Indigenous and Treaty rights in Canada. There mission is to give a voice to people by sharing and spreading a message on a tshirt.
Talk Vegan To Me Clothing, based in Calgary, is a company that sells pro-vegan graphics on items such as tanks, t-shirts, toques, totes, stickers, etc. This company also donates to local animal sanctuaries. What I like about them is that all of their clothing is made in Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP) certified factories. (WRAP) is a non-profit dedicated to promoting safe, lawful, humane, and ethical manufacturing around the world through certification and education.
On-line E-commerce websites:
The most popular in my opinion are Etsy and Shopify, although Instagram ads are getting up there Both Etsy and Shopify are e-commerce on-line platforms that sell items from a wide range of categories.
Etsy (U.S.A.) is more focused on craft type, handmade items like jewelry, clothing, home décor. The Etsy app is free and customers can log in, search for a particular item to then having to choose the person or company to buy from. To sell on Etsy, you need a total of 2 Etsy apps; the other app would be for your store front.
ComfyCanadianCo and ILoveFeminism are examples of the types of ‘shop profiles’ you would find on Etsy.
ILoveFemisism’s mascot/logo is a mischievous looking ghost. Although the brand’s main focus, I can only assume is feminism, designs vary from messages of stopping the genocide of indigenous people to expressing one’s dislike of proud straight people. Their products seems to be geared towards adults as some items have profanity. They do sell a variety of items such as buttons, tshirts, tank tops, mugs…etc. I believe it is also their own designs on the items.
ComfyCanadianCo is basically a print-on-demand service, disguised as a store front. I would assume with various suppliers as there are multiple items for sale, much like ILoveFeminism. However, ComfyCanadianCo doesn’t seem to have a ‘niche’ nor a brand that stands out. They just seem to print catchy short quotes in different types of fonts on different types of items.
Shopify (Canadian) is more of an e-commerce platform for online stores and retail point-of-sale system. Shopify is where ComfyCanadianCo and ILoveFeminisim would have access to wholesalers and vendors or external print-on-demand services (contract out) to complete the final product. Etsy is more like a store front.
We are in the era of knowledge and technology. All you need to do now-a-days is a quick Google and YouTube search. D.I.Y., these 3 letters can essentially end all small e-commerce businesses. However, with technology also comes consumer convenience. This is why I think having a brand that supports WRAP, that is affordable and can focus on communities wanting to make a positive social change, no matter the cause, is essential for survival.
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