What Thread Together does with unsold clothes
Enter: Thread Together. Providing an ethical response to fashion excess, they work as the go-between for close to 2,000 fashion brands and retailers who want to donate their brand-new end-of-season stock and about 3,000 registered charities that need to provide clothing for those who don’t have access to it. “The best thing to do with the brand-new clothing that’s destined for landfill is to give it to people in need,” says Thread Together CEO Anthony Chesler. “We work tirelessly every day to collect brand-new clothing and bring it back to our centre to get it ready to give to [vulnerable] people.”
Shifting focus to solve problems for vulnerable people
Anthony hasn’t always worked in the not-for-profit space. In fact, the work he used to do was decidedly for profit, helping companies perform better to improve their bottom line. “Increasingly I became disillusioned, so I wanted to shift my focus to solving more relevant problems that could benefit our fragile planet and our vulnerable communities across the country,” he says. In 2019, he joined Thread Together.
“This work has much more closely aligned with me becoming a much better person – it has made me more grounded.”
“When you are confronted with vulnerability every single day, you appreciate what you have, and it’s not the material things: it’s your health, your relationships and how you spend your time.”
Helping women escaping domestic violence situations
While we often consider fashion frivolous, for some it can be life changing.
“A woman escaping domestic violence may arrive at a shelter with nothing but the clothes she’s wearing.”
“So, when she arrives, we have clothing there, ready for her,” explains Anthony. “Clothing serves more than just a functional purpose. Often, we forget how powerful it is. We talk about it as the forgotten basic human right. It’s incredibly empowering to see what a piece of fabric can do in the hands of someone who needs it most.”
How CommBank supports Thread Together
CommBank has helped mobilise Thread Together’s clothing service by providing vans to take clothing to remote communities, disaster zones or people who are simply unable to travel. The collaboration isn’t only financial. As part of Thread Together’s corporate volunteering program, more than 1,000 employees have put their hand up to help from across all areas of CommBank’s business each year.
