British department store Marks & Spencer has announced a new competition for young people to submit designs in a bid to be included in the retailer’s and YoungMinds’ Hello Yellow kidswear collection.
Together with the mental health charity, Marks & Spencer is calling for inspiring designs from two age categories – five to 11 and 12 to 16 years old – with one winner to be chosen from each group.
Those selected will get a behind the scenes look at the development of their ideas, visiting the supplier factory in the Midlands to see the products being printed.
Their final designs will then be included in the collaborative range available in Marks & Spencer from September. They will also receive sweatshirts and hoodies featuring their winning illustration to be supplied to their school class to wear on World Mental Health day on October 10.
In a release, Victoria McKenzie-Gould, corporate affairs director at Marks & Spencer, noted that the retailer had raised over three million pounds in just over one year to “support young people’s mental health” alongside YoungMinds, which the company has an existing partnership with.
McKenzie-Gould added that the design competition intends to “raise further awareness of this issue”, thus encouraging “everyone to think about how they can support a friend or young person who might be struggling”.
