Fashion has always helped people express their feelings. Designers have deeply explored the uplifting effect that bright colors have on emotions this spring, culminating in collections filled with bright pink, orange and lavender. Meanwhile, The Smiley Company is celebrating 50-years of happy with limited-edition apparel and accessories.
AG Jeans, however, has taken a literal approach to melding fashion with feelings in a new men’s and women’s capsule collection.
The Los Angeles-based lifestyle brand recently launched “All The Feels,” a new collection to honor Mental Health Awareness Month and the millions affected by or struggling with mental illness. The capsule revolves around a witty set of patches, portraying a generalized set of emotions. Patches included a winky face for happy and playful, a cloud for moody and sullen and a heart for affectionate and loving moods.
Additionally, AG stated that it will be auctioning the 1988 Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe featured in its Spring 2022 campaign and donating a portion of the proceeds to NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, in support of destigmatizing mental illness and creating a world where all people affected can experience hope, recovery, and wellness.
“It can get really heavy when you’re talking about mental health awareness and how seriously some people are suffering from that,” said John Rossell, AG head of marketing and creative. “We wanted to keep the patches more on the lighthearted level of things, so we made sure they were not so dark or serious, but at the same time keeping the message appropriate, and making that conversation easy to talk about.”
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The collection offers two women’s striped tees and one men’s striped tee, as well as a unisex baseball cap and 3-pack of socks. The T-shirts and hat come with a pack of three patches that can be ironed on wherever desirable. The socks feature stitched artwork on the outside ankle. The collection retails for $78-$82. AG is also selling the pack of patches separately for $18.
To complement the capsule, AG introduced an additional assortment of classic stripe and solid staples like tanks, a maxi dress and men’s pullover top.
AG isn’t the only denim company to show support for Mental Health Awareness Month. Cone Denim launched a new selvedge denim within its Cone Community Collection, a series of fabrics designed to support various causes and organizations that align with the company’s values. The fabric is designed in ab ’80s-inspired construction in a bright distilled indigo shade with a green selvage ID to represent mental health awareness.
“All The Feels” follows the launch of AG’s “I Love Me” collection in February, which carried a message about the importance of self-love and acceptance.
“AG, in general, has been keeping an eye on some of these conversations that are more relevant to the current times, whether that be sustainability or mental health awareness,” Rossell added. “In the future, you’re probably going to see collections from AG that have more of a voice and a stance.”