Going further

CAN you imagine being forced to leave behind everything you know with only a moment’s notice? Can you imagine your community and family being torn apart, your life and your future uncertain? It’s an everyday reality for over 60 million people around the world, their lives displaced by war, persecution and natural disaster. Caught in the crossfires of political and military strife, most have barely escaped with their lives.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) works to help these people reclaim what they lost and provide for life’s basic needs and essentials. This means clean water, sanitation, nutrition and education. Nothing in life can be taken for granted. In 2006, Uniqlo began collaborating with UNHCR to offer not only financial support but also clothes. Through its All-Product Recycling Programme, Uniqlo has donated over 16.32 million articles of clothing, distributed in 59 countries and regions including Georgia, Syria, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Nepal and Myanmar.
Uniqlo’s support begins with you. At Uniqlo and GU stores around the globe you can donate your worn Uniqlo clothing. Donations are then separated into unwearable items, which are turned into fuel, and wearable, which are passed on. These items are further divided into 18 categories that account for gender, size and season. Finally, the clothes are distributed based on local needs. Not only does this require considerations of climate but also of culture and religion.
Like food and water, clothes are an essential part of life and the donations the refugees receive help to establish a vital foundation. With this basic necessity fulfilled they can pursue other ambitions like education, community development, and programmes that enable self-reliance. And they help by fostering confidence, pride and dignity – equally essential for living our lives to their fullest.
LifeWear doesn’t just mean making your life better but making people’s lives better. That’s the power of clothes. The choices you make in your life, even when it comes to what you choose to buy and wear, can have a profound effect on others. The world is connected and our actions carry greater weight than we might think. Articles of clothing don’t have to become waste. Instead, they can live another life and tell another story.
If who we are and what we believe is truly what we wear every day, what will you choose to wear?