It's a big no-no from me, Urban Outfitters. [2/2/14]

It really astonishes me that the brand 'Urban Outfitters', popular and well-loved by youngsters, abuses their power by producing t-shirts with unhealthy slogans all over them. Depression and Anorexia are two horrible mental health illnesses of which are becoming more and more common in society - especially in young people - yet the famous brand seems to be promoting the conditions as a label, in order to stand out. It may be good to stand out but not for this reason. 

This recent controversial fashion is similar to that of Asda's 'Mental Health Patient' Halloween costume - just because these illnesses do not come in physical form, doesn't mean that they are made up and there is no way on earth that anybody would choose to dress up as a cancer patient or wear a t-shirt with the disease printed on it. It's unbelievable and so wrong that mental health is being sold as a fashion statement. For those of us who suffer from these conditions, the last thing that you want to do is be publicly open about what you're going through and you definitely don't consider it to be a positive element of your personality and feel that it makes you 'different'. 

I think that brands with a huge deal of power and control over what their customers deem as 'fashionable' should perhaps reconsider their approach and use this for positive impact. Why do they not feel it would be a brilliant idea to promote the idea of loving yourself and being happy in your own skin perhaps, instead.

Of course, Urban Outfitters have announced that the 'depression' t-shirt is purely just a brand name however, I'm sure that they should have considered the response that they would recieve when producing a product such as this. Especially after their 'eat less' t-shirts that they previously released...

This seems to be proof of how mental health remains as a subject that is not properly understood by society and brands should know of the issues that surround the illnesses. Thankfully, the subject is becoming less of a taboo subject and hopefully with the help of various associations it will eventually be something that everyone will be OK discussing. 

Thank you for reading, sorry that it's a been a bit of a rant but things like this really do anger me. I'd love to know what your thoughts are, until next time!