A message from James and the Outland Denim team

As a brand rooted in social justice working in-country and in partnership with local communities to better understand, meet the needs and elevate the status of underprivileged, marginalised, excluded and exploited people, we have always been about the long game.

So we are stepping back to listen, because real, constructive, respectful dialogue is where true change begins.

We don't have all the answers, so what is important to us is to not simply post a tile on our social media platforms and move on. We want to take this moment and ensure that the learnings are not forgotten by embedding them in our work.

Our very foundations lie in the anti-slavery movement, so it’s important that our business continues to stand for the rights of people of colour in our community both here in Australia, the United States, and elsewhere.

For our broader community, please know that every day at Outland Denim we are working hard at correcting injustice right the way through the fashion supply chain and ensuring that the voices of those we serve are heard.

We acknowledge that this good work is not necessarily reflected in our imagery: that we need to do better to represent all people as a brand, not as a tokenistic gesture but because brands have the power to reflect or distort our reality.

It's not lost on us that it is National Reconciliation Week here in Australia, and that we have work to do in our own backyard. Reconciliation Australia has provided a great range of resources and recommended reading on their website, which we will be looking to to help educate ourselves further, and we welcome you to do the same. We've linked these resources below.

And so with that, we are here and we are listening ...

https://nrw.reconciliation.org.au/

https://nrw.reconciliation.org.au/2020/05/19/20-ways-to-be-in-this-together-in-2020/