Five young men from rural WA are giving back to the community to make a mark in the world of fashion.
Five young men from rural WA are giving back to the community to make a mark in the world of fashion.
The rough and tumble gold mining town of Kalgoorlie-Boulder is not the typical place you’d expect to launch a fashion label.
But that’s exactly what Bowler brothers Sam, Jimmy, Joe, and Dan (all sons of politician John Bowler), along with long-time friend Casey Grice, have done.
The group, from a diverse range of working backgrounds, including mortgage broking, architecture, finance and professional beach volleyball, have pooled their talents to create The Mighty, a streetwear label based around the ethos ‘the pen is mightier than the sword’.
But the label is not just about encouraging people to get out and write their own story; The Mighty head designer Sam Bowler said the aim from the start was to give something back.
That commitment entails donating a portion of the revenue from every shirt sold, at this stage $1, to mental health foundation Headspace, a federal government initiative established in 2006.
“Because our message is about getting out and being active and being strong-minded enough to go and do something, that’s pretty close to Headspace and what they do, in terms of addressing problems in mental health in people our age,” Sam Bowler said.
“While we are able to raise a small amount of money for them, it’s also about spreading their message as well.
“In a lot of our marketing we will link Headspace or tag them in posts, and the 4,000 to 5,000 people who follow us on Facebook and Instagram can see them and, if they’ve got problems, they know where to go.”
Jimmy Bowler, who comes from a mortgage broking background and handles the finance side of the business, said the Headspace connection was an important point of difference in a crowded fashion market.
The Mighty’s range of products, which was launched for sale in March, comprises T-shirts and hats, with each individual design limited to a run of 50.
Included with each product sold online is a personal message thanking customers for their support, as well as details of the Headspace donations.
For now, the shirts and hats are manufactured in Bangladesh and printed locally, at Osborne Park company AS Colour.
Sam Bowler said one of the first things he looked into when sourcing a manufacturer overseas was ensuring any workers involved were treated fairly.
“They had pretty stringent codes in place to make sure the working conditions in Bangladesh were up to standard,” he said.
But once The Mighty achieves economies of scale by building on its stockist base of one store, RAW BTQ in Kalgoorlie, Sam Bowler said he’d like to source an offshore manufacturer himself, again with a philanthropic bent.
“It’s our plan to go over and source our stuff directly, probably somewhere in South-East Asia – Indonesia, Thailand or Cambodia, somewhere close – and have our shirts made at a cheaper price by cutting out the middle man and putting a bit of that money that we save back into the community,” he said.
“We can then see for ourselves the working conditions and help out the community that the manufacturer is based in.”
Jimmy Bowler said cutting costs would also help The Mighty increase its donations to Headspace.
An official launch party for the brand will be held at Black Tom’s in West Perth on June 6, while the label can be found at www.themightyclothing.com.