Iowa City businesses spread awareness through fashion

Also dealing with local impact is Wright House of Fashion. Fashion Coordinator Lexis Wells said Wright House of Fashion has a goal of engaging with and aiding the community. Back in 2022, she worked with founder Andre’ Wright to establish Beyond Fashion Fest, a festival designed to engage with young people in the community.

“I know a big goal and motivation is keeping kids out of harm’s way and off the streets,” Wells said. “Wright House is that space, whether there’s after school classes or they even just need a safe space to come hang out and learn some things.”

Wells said she has displayed some of the kids’ work at Beyond Fashion Fest and even included them in the fashion shows to show off their designs. For Wells, fashion is a good outlet for expression due to its thought-provoking potential. 

“Especially on a grander scale like red carpets, even if somebody on the red carpet gets kicked off the carpet for wearing something loud or extremely political, it’s still going to be photographed,” Wells said. “Using fashion as a way to kind of share your narrative and spread awareness, I think, is really important.” 

Wells said Wright co-founded a fashion activism brand with abolitionist Jason Sole called “Humanize My Hoodie.” It was inspired by the deaths of Black kids due to gun violence, and how the kids had been wearing hoodies at the time of their deaths, leading to stereotypes.

“‘Humanize My Hoodie’ is meant to kind of think about the person wearing it before judging,” Wells said.

For companies such as RAYGUN, Benson said promoting awareness for issues goes hand-in-hand with their goals: to make people laugh. Some of their clothes portray short quips having to do with the city, such as a shirt reading “Iowa; great colors. easy to spell.” 

Others are more pointed, such as a sweatshirt stating “Don’t tread on me” with a graphic of a national park ranger hat inspired by Brian Gibbs, a park ranger who was laid off earlier in the year when many other national park workers were also being terminated.

This campaign also included sweatshirts and other mediums, such as coasters and koozies that stated “America needs national parks,” with a portion of sales from those shirts being donated, according to RAYGUN’s website, to organizations the company supports. 

RAYGUN also puts messages onto some unconventional products, from shot glasses to ornaments; as Benson said, the more media with a message, the better.