Who We Are
We’re OutsideIn - the purpose-driven clothing brand on a mission to rewrite homelessness.
Now, you might be wondering why homelessness? Great question.
Homelessness is a global issue that affects millions of people around the world regardless of race, age, gender, culture, circumstances and more. It is an issue that has faced humanity for many years and one that we cannot afford to leave unsolved.
When our founder, David Johnston, started getting to know people experiencing homelessness and as he began hearing their unique stories, he immediately knew that someone needed to do something to help share these stories and change society’s negative perceptions around homelessness. And, as it turns out, that someone was him together with some helping hands along the way!
Since 2016 when David officially launched OutsideIn, we have remained committed to telling the stories of those left on the ‘outside’ of society, rewriting the negative perceptions around homelessness, and acting as a voice of hope to people in need. And we could not do these things without you.
How do we give back?
Now, it’s all good and well to say that we want to help people experiencing homelessness but how do we actually do it?
Mainly through something we call ‘Wear One, Share One’. Simply put, Wear One, Share One means that for every item purchased from OutsideIn, we donate an additional item to someone experiencing homelessness.
These additional items are always brand-new and designed specifically with people impacted by homelessness in mind. We make sure that teach item's design is informed by the people they are created for. Why? Because we recognise that homelessness presents unique challenges that need unique solutions.
Since we began in 2016, OutsideIn has donated over 150,000* Giving Items to people in need across the globe.
*As of December 2022
Preparation & Packaging
Each month we work alongside our Giving Partners to distribute the Giving Items donated through Wear One, Share One. We prepare and package the products for them based on their individual needs and requirements and then they distribute these items to their service-users.
Customer Involvement
Our customers are vital to the Wear One, Share One process. Through your purchases you make this giving model possible so we ensure that we keep you in the loop with updates on who your purchases have helped each month. You can subscribe to our newsletter to receive these monthly updates.
Dignity First
We believe that every person who receives one of our Giving Items should feel dignified and valued when they wear them. In addition to the high-quality materials and stylish designs of these products, we also add a 'Tag of Hope' which holds an encouragement for each wear, reminding them of their infinite worth.
Our Wear One, Share One model does not only provide people experiencing homelessness with essential items such as thermal wear and socks, but it also acts as two very key reminders:
1. A reminder to the person receiving these items that they are worthy of kindness, dignity and brand-new clothing.
2. A reminder to the person who purchases something from our store that they have made a difference and played a part in the larger story of rewriting homelessness across the globe.
Often donations can feel impersonal and a lot of the time, the products donated don’t actually meet the needs of the people they are going to.
Brand-new, good quality items are often few and far between, and smaller items such as socks and underwear are often significantly underprovided.
Our Wear One, Share One model not only allows us to connect our customers to their impact by giving them insight into who their products have been donated to, but it also allows us to work closely with our Giving Partners (the charities and organisations we partner with) to assess what products are needed and how we can tailor these products to meet the unique needs of the people they help.
How Does 'Wear One, Share One' Work?
Wear One - Your Purchase
We are passionate about our purpose and from the get-go, we wanted to create a way for our customers to share this passion too.
However, we quickly discovered that even if others were as passionate about helping people experiencing homelessness as we were, often they just didn’t know where to start.
This is why we created our Wear One, Share One concept and made it a part of every product we sell. Not only did Wear One, Share One given us an opportunity to work with organisations around the world who are dedicated to helping people in need, but it created a way for people of all other walks of life to have an impact on homelessness too.
Through Wear One, Share One, when you choose something for you to ‘Wear’, your purchase also ‘Shares’ another product with someone experiencing homelessness. This is no ordinary one-for-one because every additional item that is shared is designed specifically with people experiencing homelessness in mind. By tailoring these products to fit their unique needs we can provide real help that actually makes a difference. We can offer them comfort and confidence through products that make them feel good, and we can give them a sense of dignity and worth through products that are brand-new, made well and designed especially for them.
Share One - Your Impact
Once you've purchased your product, we take care of your 'Share One' item.
Our Social Impact and Operations Teams ensure that the correct products are donated based on each customer's purchase. These additional items are named 'Giving Items' and we track how many and what type of Giving Items are donated through your purchases each month.
To ensure that these Giving Items reach people in need, our Social Impact Team is constantly nurturing existing and developing new partnerships with many charities and organisations around the world. We call these our 'Giving Partners'. Each month we donate a portion of the Giving Items to several Giving Partners based on the needs of their service-users. For example, one Giving Partner may be in need of Socks while another may need T-Shirts. Once we have chosen our Giving Partners for the month, we allocate the Giving Items donated on behalf of your purchase to them. Our Operations Team then ensures these items reach each Giving Partner safely.
Finally, our Giving Partners distribute the items to their service-users who get to enjoy these brand-new, high-quality, intentionally designed products all thanks to you! So, thanks for wearing so that we can keep on sharing with those on the outside of society.
Meet Our Giving Partners
Since OutsideIn first began we have partnered with over 40 organisations around the globe to donate over 150,000* items of clothing to people in need.
These products are always brand-new, designed by OutsideIn, tagged, wrapped and the larger items are available in various sizing and colours so that each person who receives them also receives the dignity that comes with having a choice.
If you’re a charity interested in working with us to help people in need, we'd love to hear from you.
*As of December 2022
FAQs
Is OutsideIn a business or a charity?
We are a profitable business driven by social impact. What we mean by this is that everything we do is done with helping those experiencing homelessness in mind.
Through our purpose-driven ethos and initiatives such as ‘Wear One, Share One’, we strive to make every single purchase count.
We want other businesses to be inspired by OutsideIn and to contribute to making an impact to the world around them. We want to set an example of how anyone can use their business platform to help stir change within our society and its most vulnerable people.
What is OutsideIn?
OutsideIn is a purpose-driven clothing brand with a vision to rewrite the negative perceptions around homelessness. Since we were founded in 2016, our main way of achieving this is through our clothing and our unique concept called ‘Wear One, Share One’. Through it, for every item purchased we will donate an additional item to someone experiencing homelessness.
What is 'Wear One, Share One'?
Since homelessness is a global issue, we knew that in order to truly make an impact to it we would need a global solution. That’s why we created our ‘Wear One, Share One’ model. Through it we can help people experiencing homelessness across the world by partnering with charities in cities around the world. As OutsideIn grows we strive to grow our Wear One, Share One too, helping us reach more people in more places in more ways.
What products do we donate?
Our 'Wear One, Share One' model does not follow a one-for-one format and this is a very intentional decision. By working very closely with our Giving Partners we’ve learnt that the needs of people experiencing homelessness are unique and in order to truly be met effectively, they need to be treated uniquely too. With this in mind we’ve designed each of our Giving Products to cater for these needs by taking into consideration factors like style, fit, design, colour and fabric. Each of these elements have been informed by feedback from our Giving Partners as well as feedback from people experiencing homelessness themselves.
P.S. When you click on a product you’ll be able to see what Giving Product is donated through our 'Wear One, Share One' concept on behalf of your purchase!
How do you deliver the Giving Items donated by purchases?
Our Social Impact and Operations Teams work together to ensure that your Giving Items get to our Giving Partners and the people they support. Each month we allocate a portion of the Giving Items donated through 'Wear One, Share One' to one or more of our Giving Partners. The number and type of Giving Items donated comes down to the charity's specific needs. 100% of the profits raised through our Depop sales help us to cover the cost of delivery and distribution of these Giving Items, ensuring that they get to where they need to be and help all those they were designed to help.
How can I challenge the negative perceptions of homelessness?
The more time we spend speaking to people experiencing homelessness the more we learn that one of the greatest gifts we can give to them is our time. For so many people experiencing homelessness there is a huge sense of disconnect from society because of the negative stereotypes that surround homelessness. However, when those stereotypes are broken down and we recognise the human behind homelessness, we make a real difference. A simple hello, a short conversation and, on the most basic level, an effort to acknowledge those experiencing homelessness are all things that we can do each day to make a real impact to homelessness and the people affected by it.
Is homelessness the same experience for everyone?
Homelessness is difficult no matter the degree to which it impacts a person. It is also a unique experience for each individual and there are so many factors which can influence a person’s experience of it. However, there are several widely known kinds of homelessness that one may face. There are still nuanced differences from person to person but understanding some of the types of homelessness that exist helps us to address these details better. These types include chronic homelessness, episodic homelessness, transitional homelessness and hidden homelessness.
To help spread awareness about the complexities of homelessness, our Social Impact Team strives to educate our team and our customers about homelessness and how we can help those who are impacted by it.
What's OutsideIn's vision?
Our vision at OutsideIn goes beyond just clothing. We are on a mission to turn fashion on its head by using it to reshape how people view homelessness and how they treat the people who are affected by it.
Through innovative products and empowering our customers to reach out to those on the outside of society, we believe this vision is achievable. We are not saying that our efforts alone will end homelessness; however, we are saying that together we can spread hope, we can meet needs and we can bring the Outside of society In.
