George Brake and Seb Higham met as kids, but while working together as hospital theatre orderlies they decided to get serious about a not-for-profit apparel business, Compassion Squared.

In the telling of George Brake, a theatre orderly at North Adelaide’s Memorial Hospital, the experiences of a day on the job can range from anxiety-inducing to morally uplifting.

“Bad parts of the job were being called in to clean up in the theatres, like cleaning up surgery and stuff like that,” George recalls.

“But the best tasks were the patient care stuff, so a lot of helping patients out of recovery and taking them back to their bedrooms, or bringing them up to surgery from the waiting room and having conversations with them.”

While working the hospital’s halls, George, who is now employed as an NDIS social worker and mentor, rekindled a childhood friendship with Seb Higham.

As the duo were being bossed around by nurses, George pitched Seb an idea he’d been mulling over for years: a not-for-profit clothing brand that also acted as a wearable platform for local visual artists.

George was confident in the idea, but he lacked the business and design nous to get it started. This is where Seb, a graphic designer who now lives in Melbourne, came in.

“I knew it was something I wanted to do one day, but I was, like, ‘I don’t have the skillset. Maybe one day I’ll have the skillset, or maybe one day I’ll find somebody else who has that skillset and we can team up’,” George says. “That ended up being the case.”

‘Sunshowers 003’ Compassion Squared t-shirt, designed by Miles Dunne

 

‘Methodic’ Compassion Squared t-shirt designed by Miles Dunne

Seb tells CityMag he was curious after hearing George’s pitch, and one of the things that tipped him over the edge was the idea of the company donating to a different charity each month.

“George and I then met monthly to flesh out our business, making sure we [would be] as transparent as possible on the process as well as clearly articulating our brand to the public,” Seb says.

“What drove me to collaborate with George was my growing interest in tapping into a ‘creatives’ design process and how they think.”

The result is Compassion Squared — a clothing brand spotlighting local visual artists in monthly product drops. The business has its official launch this Sunday at recently opened café and sanga spot, Carton Deli.

George has high hopes for the brand, with the monthly releases starting with visual artist and Bait Fridge member Miles Dunne designing the first two t-shirts for the brand.

“Each month we’re highlighting a different artist and then 50 per cent of the profits from that month’s product — whether it be a t-shirt or hoodie, a tote bag, accessories down the line — that will go to a charity of the artist’s choosing,” George explains.

The first charity Compassion Squared will contribute to is Yalari, a Queensland not-for-profit providing Indigenous kids living in regional, rural and remote communities with schooling scholarships.

Miles tells CityMag he chose Yalari because it’s a charity for First Nations children led by a First Nations person, and because “the person who founded it has lived experience”.

Miles’ two garments are titled ‘Sunshowers 003’ and ‘Methodic’, and there are 25 of each print available. The designs are red, white and black and are a distilled version of Miles’ artistic practice, which has previously melded sculpture, light work and 2D formations.

The t-shirts will be available for purchase at the launch event on Sunday. If they happen to sell out on the day, you’ll have to wait for the next drop with a new artist’s design.

Visual artist Miles Dunne

As much as charity is a key component of Compassion Squared, George and Seb are also excited to give artists an opportunity to be seen in public on a moving billboard (aka a body).

“We want to be a platform to raise the voices of smaller artists,” George says. “We’re not there yet but that’s a big part of it.”

Each participating visual artist gets 25 per cent of the profits of each t-shirt sold, while 50 per cent is donated to chosen charity. The business takes the final 25 per cent cut.

Originally, Seb and George had planned to give all the money away, but they realised in order for Compassion Squared to have longevity they would need to reinvest some money back into the project.

There are two more artists billed for the brand’s next drops, and the duo hope they can continue spreading their threaded goodwill across Australia, and hopefully the world.

Importantly, the business has also given Seb and George a feeling of control in their working lives they missed while working as orderlies.

“Working at the hospital, you’re just sort of bossed around and told what to do,” he says.

“Whereas this is something where we can really bring our ideas to life and have a creative outlet for ourselves too, to promote this and to bring people on board and curate this experience.”