Advertisement
CHRISTMAS SPECIAL: HALF PRICE Big Issue magazine subscription
SUBSCRIBE
Ethical Shopping

Give young people a voice with Thraedable and The Big Issue Shop

The social enterprise will kit you out with fashionable threads inspired by heartbreaking tales from Lesbos to Tunisia

Thraedable

Fashion always needs to make a statement – and Thraedable knows this better than anyone.

The social enterprise is calling for a world where everybody has a voice, where everybody’s rights are respected and where sustainability is the norm.

To build this world, Thraedable is making clothes that amplify the voices of the downtrodden and forgotten by using the artwork that young people design in its art workshops as inspiration for a range of trendy t-shirts and tote bags, now available in The Big Issue Shop.

Thraedable
ANIMALS-inspiration-Thraedable
Artwork produced at refugee centres inspires Thraedables t-shit designs

Each design tells a story of a journey through life, a journey like Emmanuel’s.

The rock music fanatic fled Nigeria after deserting the army and found himself arrested in Sicily for smuggling – despite being forced by Libyan militias making the perilous trip across the Mediterranean to Europe to read the compass on their boat.

The turning point for Emmanuel came when he joined art workshops in Sicily run by one of Thraedable’s partner organisations that also provides free legal aid for those excluded by the Italian refugee reception system.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Emmanuel’s eye-catching drawing of a traditional African mask has now been turned into one of the social enterprise’s organic, ethically produced t-shirts with 50 per cent of all gross profits heading straight back to Sicily.

Thraedable
Thraedable-Faces
Thraedable take artwork from canvas to t-shirt

This is the case with all of Thraedable’s associated causes whether it be supporting fellow migrants arriving at refugee centres on the island of Lesbos in Greece or helping children in Tunisia with Xeroderma Pigmentosum, a rare genetic condition that makes the skin hypersensitive to UV light.

The social echo is woven into the fabric of the ethical business from top to bottom with every product respecting people and the planet from production to delivery, using only organic materials, water-based inks and biodegradable mailers.

You can get your hands on this perspective-altering gear in The Big Issue Shop here.

Our 2020 Impact Report

The Big Issue has given more than £1 million support to Big Issue vendors struggling due to the lockdown restrictions. To mark the significant milestone, we have published an impact report, documenting the seismic shift the organisation has undergone in the past 12 months.

View Report
Advertisement

Buy a Big Issue Vendor Support Kit

This Christmas, give a Big Issue vendor the tools to keep themselves warm, dry, fed, earning and progressing.

Recommended for you

View all
giffgaff and Big Issue Partner to Bridge Digital Divide
Advertorial

giffgaff and Big Issue Partner to Bridge Digital Divide

Designer and activist Katharine Hamnett on fast fashion, the planet and photobombing Thatcher
katherine hamnett
Second hand September

Designer and activist Katharine Hamnett on fast fashion, the planet and photobombing Thatcher

I have worn second hand clothes my whole life. I don’t know why anyone would shop new
lesley wearing her second hand finds
Second hand September

I have worn second hand clothes my whole life. I don’t know why anyone would shop new

Coffee that fights homelessness: Nespresso’s new £1m partnership with social enterprise Change Please
Three Change Please baristas promoting their Nespresso partnership
Sponsored content

Coffee that fights homelessness: Nespresso’s new £1m partnership with social enterprise Change Please

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know
4.

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know