Hear What Harry’s Has To Say About Their Collaboration With Soulland

We asked the incredible team at Harry’s about their brand-new collaboration with Soulland which aimed to raise awareness and ultimately dismantle the stigma around mental health. This is what they had to say. 

Click here for more information on the collaboration before engaging with this interview.

How would you describe this collection?

The main inspiration stems from US college sports where students and fans are proud to wear the name of their university/town on the clothing. Soulland wants to twist this phenomena and make it as common and acceptable to “pride” yourself with words that are deeply connected to mental health problems. 

The goal is to democratize these words and openly start talking about them. The Harry’s x Soulland products should serve as a conversation starter.”

Why did you think it would be positive for you to collaborate with Soulland for this specific collection?

Our ambition is to help start the conversation and break the stigma surrounding mental health. Harry’s works with organizations that advocate for men's mental health, and this is also the case with our partnership with Soulland. This is because men are disproportionately affected by suicide: around 75% of suicides are committed by men (German Federal Statistical Office). With the cooperation of the non-profit association Freunde fürs Leben e.V., we can expand our commitment in the fight against depression and suicide, with the goal or reaching men in Germany.

What impact do you expect this collection to have on raising awareness for mental health?

Our ambition for this collection is to drive awareness and open up the conversation around mental health amongst young men, who are disproportionately affected by mental health and suicide. We know that not opening up and seeking support can lead to issues in the long run and so, we want to use our platform and partnerships to break down the barriers of seeking support and the taboos of opening up. We have worked with Soulland to purposely position the key words of angst and loneliness on the sweatshirts and hoodies.

Why did you specifically select the words ‘loneliness and ‘angst’ to be the main focus on the clothing?

We believe that these words are provocative, disruptive, relatable, and honest, and as such, will draw attention and make people stop and think. We know that the feelings of angst and loneliness are some of the most common attributes that if not dealt with can eventually lead to depression. We hope that this collection will help to raise awareness and break down the barriers to talking and seeking help.

What influenced your decision to publicize the stigma around mental health?

Since Harry’s launched in 2013, we have given 1% of global revenues to nonprofit organizations. As a business, Harry’s genuinely believes in doing good while doing well, so a commitment to the community has been part of our DNA since the beginning. As a men’s care/grooming brand, we care deeply about men and their lives. After ongoing conversations with nonprofit partners, a consistent theme began to emerge: men’s mental health. Mental health is an issue that disproportionately impacts men, in part due to the outdated expectations around what it means to be a “man” and therefore unable to ask for help. By focusing on an issue that directly impacts the customers we serve, our social mission makes sense for the business, and has a real impact in the world.

Why did you choose Freunde fürs Leben e.V to partner with?

FFL shares our ambition which is to provide education to contribute to early recognition of the signals of mental illness and help and start a dialogue as depression and suicide are still deemed as taboo subjects which are still not talked about enough in public. Working with FFL we are able to support their mission, we recently worked with Philip Siefer which aimed to drive the conversation of mental health on their Youtube channel “Laut gedacht”.

Do you have a specific target audience in mind for this collection?

We hope to reach new audiences in Germany through both ours and Soullands network. The idea is that the collection is designed to reach people to open up the conversation, so the more people we speak to the better.

Do you have plans to add more to the collection in the future?

The collection and campaign has been really well received. We have a global goal of providing 1.5 million men with mental health care access by 2024, and so with the help of partners like Freunde fürs Leben e.V. and Soulland, we can broaden the scope of our impact in Germany.

Conclusion

So, there we have it, not only do we now know the surface level facts about the collection, but we have managed to dive deeper. This collection really does have the purest, most amazing intentions. What are you waiting for? Check out the collection here.