Nora Meeks, Staff Writer–
Here For You Clothing company hosted a pop-up at the Slayter flagpole on Oct. 9. The Connecticut-based brand, Here For You, was founded in 2021 by best friends Ellie Haney and Emma Killbride.
“We are a clothing brand all about normalizing conversations around mental health through fashion and community,” said Haney. According to the latest Healthy Minds survey, 44% of college students said they had symptoms of depression, 37% expirenced anxiety and 15% have seriously consider suicide. The survey also stated that there had been a 7% increase in students going to counseling. This increase in students reaching out for help is what fuels Here For You’s mission.
“We really believe that, you see somebody walking down the street in a hoodie or with a sticker on the back of their phone. It’s a reminder to keep going and to reach out for help, [we are] just creating a community that makes people feel less alone,” said Haney.
This pop up at Denison was just the first part of their Ohio tour. Haney and Killbride are also visiting Miami University, University of Dayton and Xavier University.
Haney and Killbride also hosted an open conversation about mental health at the Hoaglin Center, focusing on how they turned their “pain into purpose.” The pair is still learning and growing, and bringing their clothing brand along with them. They host events at high schools, organizations and colleges.
“We both struggled tremendously when we were in college. That was kind of the peak of our struggle. It’s definitely a hard time for a lot of people. [There are] a lot of amazing parts about college, but it’s definitely a time when a lot of people feel a lot of pressure and struggle with their mental health. So we just find it super important to travel around to spread our message,” said Killbride.
Haney and Killbride said that the students at Denison exceed their expectations selling out half of their inventory in just 45 minutes. They also met with the Denison women’s lacrosse team to talk about mental health while visiting campus.
Photo: Here for You Clothing visited Denison and set up a table on A-quad to sell their apparel on Oct. 9. Nora Meeks / The Denisonian