Are “You Matter” Hoodies Sending The Right Message?
The 23-year-old Social media influencer, Demetrius Harmon, a.k.a. “Meech,” went from creating six second videos on Vine to creating his own clothing brand, You Matter. Harmon’s most popular item In this clothing line is his You Matter hoodie. The hoodies have the words “You Matter” embroidered on the chest, with the words “I feel weak, but I know I am strong” stitched onto the wrists of the hoodie.
The hoodies and his entire brand represent Harmon’s battles with mental health: specifically depression, self- harming and suicide. Harmon has a large and supportive fanbase with over a million followers on his Instagram and Twitter pages, and his hoodies sell out with every release. However, these things don’t stop the constant criticism he faces when he releases his hoodies multiple times a year. This criticism comes from people outside of his fan base that believe Harmon exploits mental health issues to make money.
Harmon’s “You Matter” hoodies sell for $65 at minimum, and can go up in price depending on the color and embroidering design of the hoodie. His most recent release on shopdemetriusharmon.com, the Spring collection of his “You Matter” hoodie, included a tie-dye hoodie that sold for $85 dollars. The price of this hoodie sparked conversations on Twitter about how brands, like Harmon’s, use issues like mental health to promote their brands, and that the creators of these brands don’t actually care about the issues that they claim to.
Harmon has addressed these concerns multiple times in several different posts across his Twitter and Instagram accounts. In a video he released regarding his Valentine’s Day collection, Harmon said that his clothing, “Might take more time, that might cost a little more but it’s always about creating something that’s going to last forever. They’re all made with care and detail and love. It’s not like we’ve got a factory of children making these.”.
Harmon donates portions of the proceeds from his clothing brand to charities and organizations like Syria Relief, The Pink List and even small Black- owned businesses across the United States. Fans of Harmon and his clothing brand come to his defense when he faces backlash for the prices of his hoodie. A twitter user tells those opposed to Harmon's prices of the hoodies, "then don't buy em. adidas and nike hoodies are about the same price if not more and they extort children in different countries. all the tie dye hoodies from meech’s recent drop are HAND DYED INDIVIDUALLY by his employees. his dedication & quality is the difference".
On the other hand, there are those who feel as though his hoodies are overpriced and use mental health in vain. Criticisms on Twitter, for example, comment things like, “There are so many more ways to actually make a difference and help people other than making an overpriced hoodie,” and some have even referred to him as “Demetrius Harming,”, a pun on his last name, Harmon, and his past of self- harm.
The question at hand is, is Demetrius Harmon sending the right message by profiting off of mental health struggles even though he battles these issues himself? There is no clear answer. Of course Harmon uses mental health to promote his brand. However, Harmon makes it clear that he has good intentions behind his brand and uses the money he makes to shine a light on mental health as well as other issues like breast cancer, police brutality and conflicts in countries like Nigeria and Syria. Even though he faces backlash every time he releases a new hoodie, it is safe to say that he sparks conversations about mental health which can be seen as a good thing.