Wear Your Label

Kyle MacNevin and Kayley Reed of Wear Your Label. / Kyle MacNevin and Kayley Reed of Wear Your Label.
  • Owner:

    Kyle MacNevin & Kayley Reed

  • Jobs Created:

    3

  • Inception:

    2014

  • Mentor:

    Philip Leblanc

  • Industry:

    Fashion/Clothing Design

  • Location:

    Fredericton, New Brunswick

  • View Printer Friendly Version
Business Profile

Wear Your Label is a conscious clothing line created with the goal to create conversations around mental health and ultimately end the stigma (in style). The Wear Your Label garments are designed to help wearers feel connected, and empowered to share their story. 10% of each purchase are also given back to make a bigger impact through local and national organizations.

My Story

Kyle MacNevin and Kayley Reed are the two young entrepreneurs behind Wear Your Label who both have lived with mental illnesses in their life. Kyle lives with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Kayley is recovering from Anorexia Nervosa. But these are just labels! Kyle and Kayley’s struggles with mental illness and their experience working with mental health organizations are what inspired them to start Wear Your Label.

In December 2013, the two met while working on youth engagement workshops for a provincial mental health organization. Only a few weeks later, and after sharing their personal mental health journeys with each other, the idea for Wear Your Label came about. Kyle and Kayley realize there was a gap in the industry and they were passionate to fill it. In the first few months, the two eager entrepreneurs spent time researching, designing and pitching to anyone who would listen to their idea. Soon after, they were accepted to The Summer Institute in New Brunswick and it was only uphill from there.

“I have always been aware of fashion, and believe that a person’s wardrobe often speaks to the world in ways the wearer often cannot,” Kyle shared. “Clothing can make people feel a number of things, so what if we could use clothing a constant reminder, something has elasticity and makes you heal, not just feel.”

In 2015 alone, Wear Your Label has been on an uphill climb and featured in top media outlets such as MTV, Seventeen Magazine, Buzzfeed, People Magazine and The Today Show. Wear Your Label is quickly becoming highly talked about amongst those living with mental illness, and encouraging conversations to happen surrounding the topic.

Advice

Be cautious, but also be creative. Today there is number of enterprises that are doing things more ethically. What makes you different? Being socially conscious doesn’t always mean you have to give away a portion of your profits. Ask yourself how you can make the world a better place.”