People Helping People: How a Dutch Fashion Designer is Changing the Game

© Courtesy of Sheltersuit Foundation

People Helping People: How a Dutch Fashion Designer is Changing the Game

ALLIE MURRAY

During his fashion studies, Dutch fashion designer Bas Timmer found out that the father of a friend passed away from hypothermia after a night of sleeping on the streets. The night was eight degrees, and he slept next to a homeless shelter, which wasn’t open that night.

The news shook Timmer—not only had a friend suddenly lost their father, but at the time, Timmer was producing luxury outerwear, which began to feel like a foreign concept in light of what had happened.

It was then that Timmer felt compelled to change and do something to help. He took a look at his jacket designs, pulled some materials together—which included an old sleeping bag and a tent—and in just five hours, he made a jacket with an additional piece to become a sleeping bag. The design would later become known as Sheltersuit, a multifunctional product that combines a jacket, sleeping bag, and a duffle bag all in one.

“If you design beautiful products, and with those products you’re able to help other people, that’s really the future of fashion,” Timmer shared in a video by Paris Fashion Week.

After making the first-ever Sheltersuit, Timmer brought his design to a shelter and offered his creation to a man sleeping outside. The man immediately lowered his guard and showed interest, but wanted to share it with two friends who were living in conditions worse than his. Timmer promised to return with more, and after gathering the materials, resources, and donations required, he and a team of volunteers produced the first 100 suits. He returned with the product for the man’s friends and partnered with the shelter to officially create Sheltersuit. Since creating that first suit, they have distributed more than 28,000 Sheltersuits to people facing homelessness, refugees, and people living amidst disaster and conflict.

Over the years, the Sheltersuit has become not only a solution to provide warmth to unhoused people, but a charitable foundation that provides people with meaningful employment opportunities. The garments are made by volunteers, formerly homeless people, refugees, and people facing unemployment. In addition to the work they do, they receive further support in the form of food and job coaching.

Since the charity’s establishment in 2014, the foundation has been active in Europe, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and the United States. To tailor to the needs of people facing homelessness in warmer climates, Sheltersuit Foundation created the Shelterbag, a waterproof bed that rolls up into a bag, with a built-in pillow and room for an extra mattress or blanket. In each country, the suits are tailored to match the local climate, local people, and their needs.

“The ultimate goal is to abolish homelessness, but we recognize that this will take time,” Timmer told The Impression in a 2021 interview.

“As a result, we wish to offer our solution to protect people in need right now. The Sheltersuit was created as a temporary solution to a long-term issue. It does not address the issue of homelessness or refugees seeking shelter, but it does keep people from dying on the streets. We believe every human life is valuable, which is why everyone in need has the right to this little refuge.”

Striving to do more to help, the foundation has expanded over the years to open ShelterLab, a studio driven by a passion for creating sustainable and impactful solutions for the less fortunate. The studio operates on a mission to revolutionize the approach to social impact through the power of design, alternative manufacturing, upcycling, inclusive employment, and creativity. In the ShelterLab, designers created the Tote of Hope, made from upcycled Sheltersuit materials. Every bag sold supports the homeless, with a portion of the proceeds being donated back to Sheltersuit Foundation.

“We are on our way to creating a movement of people helping people,” shared Timmer, which has become a mantra for the organization. And this mission is quickly taking the world by storm.