The holiday season is right around the corner and this year you can give more than just a good gift. For its second consecutive year, Canadian menswear retail giant, Harry Rosen, has developed a capsule collection in partnership with Toronto Raptors Vice-Chairman and President Masai Ujiri and Toronto-based luxury designer Patrick Assaraf. When you purchase an item from the line, aptly named the 2021 Humanity Capsule, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to community partner Water First Education & Training Inc., an internship program that provides certified water treatment plant operator training for Indigenous youth.
This comes at a crucial time when Indigenous issues have been at the forefront, following discoveries of multiple mass burial sites near former residential schools across Canada. This news has reignited the conversation surrounding Canada’s long and ugly history of colonization and cultural genocide against Indigenous communities, which has caused ongoing systematic effects, like boil water advisories that mean thousands of people don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water.
“Absolutely everyone should have sustainable access to safe, clean water,” said John Millar, Executive Director and Founder of Water First. “This support from Harry Rosen and Masai is a critical investment in Indigenous youth and communities that will help solve water challenges independently, and in the long-term.”
The 2.0 capsule collaboration features 10 athleisure pieces including matching sweat suits in tie-dye patterns and cozy fleece, elevating your work-from-home looks. Shoppers can also pick up t-shirts and full-zip merino sweaters boasting the Humanity logo (featuring Ujiri’s own handwriting).
Ujiri founded the That’s Humanity movement back in 2020, a non-profit organization that’s behind the art installation now at Maple Leaf Square Garden.
“The #ThatsHumanity movement is meant to challenge all of us to seek out and embrace the things that make us human,” said Ujiri. “Inspired by Nelson Mandela’s fight for equality for all people, it is expressed through stories, shared experiences and art—all of which is represented here in the beauty of fashion.”
He’s also the founder of Giants of Africa (GOA), which uses basketball to educate and enrich the lives of African youth.
You can get your hands on the collection’s pieces in-store and online beginning early December, but don’t wait – the collection is expected to sell out.
In an effort to continue elevating underrepresented designers, the capsule items will join shelves that also feature lines from up-and-coming BIPOC designers Bohten and Aller Retour.
