In 2014, Urban Outfitters removed a crop top printed with the word “depression” from its website after shoppers online said it made light of mental illness. The shirt was not a retailer’s slogan. It carried the name of a small Singapore fashion label, Depression, which had made the design for its own fans.
The label’s founders, Kenny Lim and Andrew Loh, found themselves in the middle of a row they had not expected. Their Facebook page filled with angry posts accusing them of profiting from illness.
How a logo tee became a flashpoint
As MedicalDaily reported, Urban Outfitters pulled the shirt after a weekend of social media backlash. The word on the tee was the label’s logo, printed in various sizes.
The retailer was already known for stirring online debate. It had also faced complaints over a tee carrying the slogan “Eat Less” and had withdrawn that one too. The Depression shirt arrived with that history behind it.
Urban Outfitters later apologised on Twitter. It said it had been trying to support a small brand, not glamorize mental illness in any way. The retailer had approached the Singapore label for the piece, including a crop-top version for its site, so the purchase was an ordinary trade deal.
The founders explain the name
Lim told ABC News he was shocked that a single T-shirt led people to jump to conclusions. He said he wished they had looked into the brand first.
Speaking in 2014, he described the shirt as a brand piece made for the label’s loyal followers of about seven years. He said the label was never meant to make light of the illness.
The name, he explained, came from the founders’ own working lives. The two had met in advertising and spent several years in a demanding corporate environment, and they felt low about their routines. They left comfortable salaries to build something they would look forward to each day.
They chose the name as a reminder to stay honest and to remember that anyone unhappy with how they live can change it. Fashionista carried a similar account that year, describing the name as a reminder that unhappiness need not be permanent.
Lim also drew a line between the two meanings. The label, he said, should not be confused with the illness. It was a creative outlet for two people who had felt creatively stifled.
A small label’s growth
By 2014 the founders said their shop had grown from a 180 sq ft space in an old mall to an 800 sq ft boutique. Their Singapore store was then at Cineleisure Orchard. Their aim, Lim said, was to make designs that were fun, humorous and good for putting a smile on people’s faces.
The label had been founded in 2006, and the same year saw it presenting at Blueprint, Asia’s fashion trade show. Fashionista named it among five emerging Asian labels to watch, calling it one of Singapore’s bigger success stories. Its look was mostly black and deconstructed, and it had drawn international attention for both menswear and womenswear.
The line-up around the main label grew too. Antidepressant was a lighter, more colourful line of graphic tees and basics. Collections often borrowed medical and psychological themes, with titles such as Plastic Surgery, Blackout and Dysmorphia. The 2014 autumn/winter range was called Dark Nature.
What followed
The row did not define the label’s later years. Tatler Asia later profiled the founders, who described how the brand had moved towards gender-neutral clothing. In that profile Lim said the label would keep making shapeless, oddly sewn and oversized pieces. By then the pair also ran Sects Shop, a multi-brand store carrying avant-garde and streetwear names.
Twelve years after the controversy, the label’s founding in 2006 puts it at 20 years old.