Baa Baa Brighouse has joined the Tits Out Collective. Allow me to explain…
Earlier this year, Countess Ablaze, a Manchester based indie dye business was approached by a restaurant wanting to ‘collaborate’ on a crochet evening. They expected the Countess to provide £800 of yarn for free along with her teaching time – a total cost in excess of £1,000 in return for ‘exposure’.
The restaurant claimed it would be a charity event. They went on to say that the customers would be “middle aged women who’ll bring their girlfriends, we can serve them shit tea and tray bakes which would cost the restaurant very little but the ROI would be massive.”
In response to the outrageous and misogynistic attitude displayed by the restaurant in question, the Countess introduced two limited edition colourways called ‘Shit Tea and Tray Bake’ and ‘If I Want Exposure, I’ll Get My Tits Out’.
£3 of every skein sold was donated to Women’s Aid, a UK charity that helps women to escape domestic violence. More than £3,000 was raised in support of this worthwhile cause.
Fast-forward to June and the Countess discovered that another indie dyer has copied one of her iconic charity colourways.
Instead of naming and shaming the dyer, she has responded by setting up the Tits Out Collective, inviting indie dyers, designers and notion makers from across the world to create their own versions of ‘If I Want Exposure, I’ll Get My Tits Out’ in aid of charity.
So far, more than 100 creatives have signed up to take part in the project – including Baa Baa Brighouse!
The rules for indie dyers involved are that £3 of each skein sold must be donated to a charity of the dyer’s choice. Baa Baa Brighouse has chosen to raise money for WomenCentre which is based in Huddersfield, Halifax and Dewsbury.
The charity offers a wide range of emotional and practical support to women on issues such as debt, benefits, mental and physical health, domestic abuse, counselling and education, training and development.
Similar rules regarding donations to charity are also in place for pattern designers and notion makers. All yarns, designs and notions inspired by ‘If I Want Exposure, I’ll Get My Tits Out’, will launch on July 1st and will be available through that particular creative’s website or selling platform.
So, if you want to get your hands on our version, pop back on July 1st to order. Meanwhile, follow the project on social media using the hashtags #titsoutcollective and #ifiwantexposureillgetmytitsout or head over to Countess Ablaze for more information.
