New shirt suits Equip campers to a tee
New shirt suits Equip campers to a tee
19 October 2022
The new t-shirt was a popular addition to the Equip camp in Sydney, with delegates wearing it to many sessions throughout the week.
Youth and young adults have been wearing a new t-shirt at Salvation Army camps across Australia this year. The t-shirt debuted at Equip conferences in Queensland and New South Wales, where young people came together to be skilled in music, dance, media, and even coffee-making.
Designed by Jordan Westrupp, a Divisional Youth Secretary in New Zealand, the t-shirt’s typography takes its inspiration from a long-lost building along the Great Ocean Road, connecting young people to the ethos of The Salvation Army.
Youth and Young Adult Secretaries Aux-Lieutenants Mel and Adam Purcell on stage in their new t-shirts at Equip.
“A couple of years ago, I was in Australia with my wife, and we were driving the Great Ocean Road,” Jordan explains. “If something connects with me, I like to grab it. There was a Salvation Army building somewhere on that journey, and built into the wrought-iron fence was a logo, so I took a photo. I was approached by the youth team in Australia about a design for Equip camps, and that’s when I remembered that photo and threw it on a t-shirt.”
The Salvation Army’s branding initially evolved over many decades, with various logos and icons adorning historical buildings and uniforms. The t-shirt design not only uses the historical icon found on that historic Salvation Army building but also references the typography often seen on varsity clothing.
“We went for a varsity, university design,” explains Lauren Luiker from the National Youth and Young Adults Team. “Something that echoes the movement’s history but also captures what is important for the future. Same mission, new generation.”
Varsity-style typography is typical for popular fashion labels, appearing in fashion shows in London and on catwalks in Paris. The purpose of the t-shirt isn’t just to match an aesthetic from a shop window but to help young people connect their sense of identity to their communities and to the larger contribution of The Salvation Army.
“We asked the question, ‘What would young people be proud of to be a part of?’” Lauren says. “The idea of a uniform can be polarising to young people. But the statement, ‘You belong to us, we’re family, we’re purposed together in a united movement’, is quite powerful.”
The youth band sporting their new t-shirts during a performance at Equip NSW.
The Salvation Army was once considered a youth movement, building communities where young people could belong and find purpose through music and community service. The Salvation Army adapted the songs and technology of popular culture, engaging young people and those on the margins. While some of those methods have changed, the goals of The Salvation Army remain the same.
“We get real obsessed over methods,” explains Jordan. “We might talk about how important our young people are, at the genesis of the Army we were a young people movement, but we’ve become aged-biased.”
The Salvation Army was once a growing youth movement, but recent data revealed that The Salvation Army has recently experienced the fastest rate of decline (28%) of any Christian denomination in Australia, with young people underrepresented in its communities. Jordan’s designs co-opt popular culture to communicate with younger demographics that might feel increasingly disconnected from the community.
“I’m into this idea that I coined as ‘cultural subversion’,” Jordan says. “When we look back at the history of the Army, they plundered from pop culture, subverting it, applying the gospel and presenting it back to the world. Anything from our history that we’re really proud of usually involves that process of cultural subversion.”
The t-shirt has been a success at this year’s Equip events – now going into the world on the backs of young people – but different designs have come and gone in the past. There have been similar designs over the years, with different t-shirts exploring The Salvation Army’s iconography in ways that connect with young people. The importance of this isn’t found in any one t-shirt design – or in connecting with teens to grow The Salvation Army’s membership – but rather that young people can find the sense of belonging and purpose they need.
“The design is a homage to the Salvos roots,” Lauren says. “They (youth) love the feel of the design, but what is more powerful is that there is a sense of connectedness that comes through a t-shirt. We know young people are looking for identity today. In the Salvos, we are helping them shape who they are, but also what they can offer.”
Comments
No comments yet - be the first.