In 1983 Katharine Hamnett launched her first protest t-shirts. They caught the spirit of a generation, worn by the likes of Wham!, Queen and Naomi Campbell, as well as countless activists and campaigners then and since. The t-shirts are still synonymous with protest and social justice. Her new slogan, PROTECT AND SURVIVE, is a message of solidarity with our NHS. It distills their message that to protect ourselves, each other and our incredible key workers we must stay at home and be conscientious. That is how we will survive through this crisis. In addition, Katharine is releasing three classic campaign t-shirts that speak to us all today, so we can get out and campaign tomorrow.
Sales proceeds from PROTECT AND SURVIVE, along with MAKE TROUBLE QUESTION EVERYTHING and SAVE OUR SEAS that will be launched in the coming weeks, will going to the NHS Charities Together. The t-shirts are made as sustainably as possible in organic cotton. They are a classic fit, with a crew neck, long and short sleeves, and a slogan printed on the front. Which speaks the most to you?
PROTECT AND SURVIVE
It’s the best thing we can do. We’ve got to do what’s right. Protect our key workers and Survive
this crisis. Whether we like it or not, we need to slow down. Stay home if we can. Be conscious and considerate. Help a vulnerable neighbour.
Be kind to a key worker. Protect our NHS. Protect our key workers. Protect our vulnerable neighbours. And Survive this crisis.
And what then? Let’s take something positive from this. Let’s create a new normal, where we respect each other and look after our neighbours, where we redefine who’s skilled and who’s ‘key’, where we buy less and buy better, where we work together for the good of the planet. We are all in this together.
SAVE THE EARTH
The 22nd of April is Earth Day 2020. Let’s not forget it. While COVID-19 has brought society to a halt, it has redefined human privilege to mean health, safety and community. Our consumption has got to change for good. Maybe, finally, saving the Earth will be higher up our agenda.
“Extinction was a word hardly ever used in the early 80s and now it’s an everyday event for one species or another. We’re in a horrific emergency.We now know huge amounts about the long-term effects on human health and biodiversity of pesticides and herbicides and
nearly all raw materials and processes and human activity.”-Katharine Hamnett.
MAKE TROUBLE. QUESTION EVERYTHING
Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that things don’t always have to remain the way they are simply because that’s how they’ve always been.
Wake up. Inform yourself. Question everything.Stand up for your rights and the rights of all living things. How? By taking action. By voting. By protesting. By boycotting. By writing to your MP. By asking those questions. By pushing those boundaries. By making good choices.
As Naom Chomsky said: “I was never aware of any other option but to question everything.”
SAVE OUR SEAS
Water makes up around 71% of the Earth’s surface. 96.5% of all the Earth’s water is contained within the oceans as salt water, while the remaining 3.5% is freshwater lakes and frozen water locked up in glaciers and the polar ice caps.
We are killing them with higher global temperatures from global warming from CO2 and other greenhouse gasses, over-fishing, sewage dumping, effluents from mining, pesticide, herbicide and fertiliser run-off from agriculture, dyeing and processing from clothing, footwear and all manufacturing. Everything ends up in the sea. We get most of our oxygen from the sea. It is up to us to SAVE OUR precious SEAS before it’s too late.
Full range available at katharinehamnett.com
