BC Business
It's easy to start beef with big brands, but this upcycled clothing line is actually pretty awesome—and it's selling out fast
I‘m all for the little and local, so usually, a merch announcement from a mega hamburger brand wouldn’t draw my attention. But throw in a Vancouver collaborator and an eco-element, and I’m interested. That‘s what A&W Canada did at its launch of A&W x Frankie clothing on December 3.
Here, an admission: while the local angle and the sustainability factor grabbed me, it wasn‘t what sold me. It was that this collab with Frankie Collective isn‘t the boring, brand-heavy, only-looks-cool-if-you-happen-to-be-super-hot-and-skinny vibe that most merch has. It‘s very trendy, a little edgy and something you could wear nonironically. Behold:
The T-shirts, shorts, sweatpants and jackets are all made from leftover A&W merch and salvaged clothing. It‘s an upcycled line that really reflects marketing in 2021: get on board with sustainability or get out of here. Whether or not A&W‘s actual behaviour aligns with that is more complex (it has some information about eco-friendly practices here). But from a purely aesthetic perspective, I have to say I‘m impressed.
A bit about Frankie Collective: the Vancouver-based company sells used clothes and turns salvaged garments into fashion-forward streetwear. They donate 1 percent of their sales to nonprofits including the Native Women‘s Association of Canada and Qmunity. And this isn‘t their first big collab: they‘re currently working on projects with Nike, Adidas and Reebok, too.
READ MORE: The Innovators: A&W is bringing sustainability to fast food
So it‘s no surprise, really, that this new upcycled merch is selling out fast (my favourite T-shirt is only available in extra small; curse this average body). The A&W Thrift Shop website isn‘t particularly user-friendly, either: you can‘t filter by clothing type, or even by what‘s still available, so there is a lot of scrolling involved. Worth it for some very cool burger merch? I think so.