Socially conscious fashion brand Kind Is Cool has launched its Pride collection in collaboration with founding members of Australia's gay pride movement, the 78ers.
The brand, which supports charities including Bully Zero and Gunawirra year-round, has extended its support to LGBTQIA+ charities Minus18 and Youth Projects.
The new Pride collection will also become a year-round staple for the brand, aiming to raise awareness and funds to support LGBTQIA+ Aussies.
Kind Is Cool founder and director Amber Wilkinson said the brand has a responsibility to use its platform for good.
"We are a global clothing brand with a conscience.
"We are fully aware that we have a platform and an engaged audience and we enter collaborations with marginalised communities with the hope that they can utilise this platform to amplify their message and create sizable change," she said.
The brand decided to feature The 78ers founders after learning about the history of Australia's Mardi Gras parade.
The 78ers were the men and women who participated in Australia’s first ever Mardi Gras in 1978; a group of 103 Australian men and women from all sectors of the LGBTQIA+ community who began walking through the streets of Sydney and were met with brutal bashings and arrests by police before being publicly outed and shunned in the papers the next day.
"I was shocked with what I learned, we weren't taught this in school and it's a shame because we as Australians celebrate the courage of so many within our community and yet the bravery of queer people has often been pushed aside," Wilkinson added.
78er, Gay Liberation Movement co-founder and former chair of the Australian LGBTQI+ Pride Centre, Jude Munro said that she was thrilled to be part of the campaign.
"We are so proud of our 50-year history.
"To see the change in Australia and indeed worldwide over the years is remarkable.
"This campaign is about identity.
"This is about respecting individuals and it's up to all of us to build an understanding of each other," she said.
Alongside The 78ers, the campaign features other prominent LGBTQIA+ faces including Grace Hyland (680k), Jim Rossington (260k) and Bonnie Anderson (Neighbours, 111k).
Kind Is Cool's 78ers collection features its signature slogan, 'Be Kind' in the rainbow flag colours.
Minus18 and Youth Projects will each receive $2 from each sale in the collection.
Youth Projects CEO Ben Vasillou said the collection comes at the perfect time.
"We as a community need to start by replacing judgement with kindness.
"Replacing judgement with kindness is the new cool, and we are excited to see what impact we can create with this new collection.
"Unfortunately, we see the direct impacts of bullying, stigma, and torment every day through our work at Youth Projects.
"It creates trauma and severely impacts the lives of young people every day.
"This new collaboration with Kind is Cool is perfectly timed as young people need us most right now, especially young, LGBTQIA+ folk," he said.
Wilkinson added that the brand is proud to be making a difference.
"My hope for the community is to create and spread kindness.
"Our motto is nothing changes if nothing changes, and very few things change quickly.
"We are in this for the long haul and want to have a real impact on the lives of generations to come," she said.
Kind Is Cool's 78ers collection features socks, and kids and adults' tees.
The collection is available online now and retails for between $29.95 and $54.95.