Maddie Thompson, a young entrepreneur and clothing designer from Niverville, is using her artistic skills and business acumen to raise money for local food banks.

This is hardly Thompson’s first flirtation with apparel design. Five years ago, when she was just 13, she succeeded in selling a line of activewear to retailer Triple Flip. While walking through the mall one day and passing a Triple Flip store, it had occurred to her to send some of her designs to the company via Instagram. The rest is history.

Then, in 2018, Thompson and six fellow Grade 11 students founded a new company, Social Clothing, and began selling clothes through their website. Thompson now operates the business alone.

“It’s a lot of work,” she acknowledges. “But it is definitely worth it when I see people wearing items from Social Clothing.”

The first clothing line in 2018 was called Stylish Simplicity and featured comfy hoodies, crewnecks, and T-shirts. The following year, Thompson says the focus was on neutral tones. This year, she’s headed in a new direction—fun pastels.

“The new clothing line has a mix of the original logo in new colours and also a new ‘Social Distancing’ logo,” Thompson says. “The new collection also has a focus on all things tie-dyed, such as the new dip dye crewneck, my personal favourite, and an option where we can make any of our new items tie-dye.”

The company’s name harkens back to its Manitoba roots—a reference to the Manitoba-only practice of holding fundraising socials. However, the name certainly lends itself to the new mantra in the age of COVID-19: social distancing.

“With each ‘Social Distancing’ item sold, Social Clothing will donate a portion of the profits to local food banks such as Winnipeg Harvest and Niverville Helping Hands,” she says. This adds up to $3 per hoodie.

Thompson says that the company has a brand-new website this year from which they can accept credit and debit payments. Customers can pre-order items now for the new clothing line—and those from Niverville, Ste. Agathe, St. Adolphe, and Steinbach can qualify for free delivery by entering the code LOCAL at checkout.

She adds that all the clothing is produced right here in Manitoba, and that the company makes use of only the most sustainable print methods. According to the website, the water-based neopigment inks used on the clothing items are non-hazardous, non-toxic, and biodegradable.

“One of the biggest environmental risk factors in textiles is water pollution,” the website claims. “By using Kornit printers, [we use] a 100 percent waterless process. There is no pre-treatment, steaming, or washing required during the printing process.”