This New COVID-19 Relief Merch Collection is Designed as a Message of Hope for Toronto

by Maddison Glendinning May 21, 2020

As COVID-19 continues to impact our world, brands continue to find ways to give back to the community at a much-needed time. From Aritzia’s sponsor packages for frontline healthcare workers, to fashion brands designing face masks with charitable giveback elements, there’s been an outpouring of support from brands and consumers alike since the pandemic began. Now, a new initiative has popped up called See You Soon Toronto. The brainchild of graphic artist Ben Johnston, developer Brian Brown and etalk reporter Tyrone Edwards, the five-piece See You Soon Toronto merch collection was designed as a sort of cool love letter to the city to aid COVID-19 relief efforts.

The collection includes two T-shirts, two sweaters and an art print – 100 per cent of the proceeds from the sales of the items will be distributed among various beneficiaries working to support frontline workers, hospitality staff and mental health support services in the six, including Feed the Frontlines TO and Fred Victor.

Speaking with FASHION about the initiative, Brown explained, “We are truly fortunate to be living in the City of Toronto. It’s a world class city! COVID-19 was something that nobody could have predicted – it was like someone just shut the tap off in the economy. It cut us off from sports, music, restaurants and so many other things that had become a part of our daily life and it put such a strain on others like those in the healthcare industry. So we knew we needed to do something. When deciding what exactly that something would be, my co-creative directors Ben, Tyrone and I came back to one theme – that despite all efforts made online, there is still a strong desire to be social offline. So we wanted to do something that was optimistic, and that spoke to the love that we have for this city. And See You Soon Toronto grew from there.”

The See You Soon Toronto collection launched last week, in partnership with businesses across the city including Akira Back, The Good Son, Ruby Soho and more, and promptly sold out. A restock is currently in progress. Discover the collection below: