A new partnership with premier mental health charities in Canada and the U.S. is helping Aldo show off more of its philanthropic side.

The fashion brand recently unveiled it’s working with Kids Help Phone in Canada and Crisis Text Line in the U.S. to spread mental health awareness. The partnership is part of a long-term relationship that’s scheduled to activate around various culturally significant moments throughout the year, beginning this month with Pride.

The first iteration of the partnership includes specially designed Pride-themed tote bags available at all of the brand’s North American stores throughout June. The bags are available for $10 with all proceeds going to Kids Help Phone and Crisis Text Line.

Aldo senior director of global brand strategy Alison Neill says philanthropy has always been a part of the business since its inception, because founder Aldo Bensadoun believed businesses could be a force for good. But Aldo has only recently shifted to be more vocal and transparent about this philanthropic work, responding to how customers nowadays want to know what brands stand for and what they value.

“We don’t want to be seen as a brand that’s doing nothing,” Neill tells strategy.

The two philanthropic pillars of the new campaign, Neill says, are celebrating 2SLGBTQ+ people and offering mental health support, which the brand has identified as a major issue that Gen Z cares about. 

Neill adds that Aldo wanted to partner with Kids Help Phone and Crisis Text Line, because they’re two premier mental health charities in North America, that are accessible by virtue of being bilingual and text-based. 

“We wanted to support services that they could easily and very comfortably use, which is text-based mental health support in both countries,” Neill says.

The connection also makes sense, she says, because of how often fashion is used to express one’s emotions, and how Aldo wants help support positive feelings among its customers.

“We’re a fashion brand. We’re not here to tell you you’re not doing a good enough job. We’re not an app that tracks your behaviour and is like ‘Come on, go work out,’” Neill says. “We’re all about self-expression and confidence. So we want our customers to feel good when they shop at Aldo. We want that connection of looking good and feeling good.”

Aldo’s philanthropic work in the past has included its advocacy about HIV/AIDS during the 1980s where it included information pamphlets in shopping bags, which eventually led to the “Aldo Fights AIDS” campaign in 2005. Aldo has also worked with the Ride to Conquer Cancer for more than a decade to raise $1.5 million.

The tote bags will be supported online, via social media and in stores because of how much foot traffic Aldo still sees in its locations. Future activations with these charities are scheduled for back to school and World Mental Health Day this fall. The brand is also looking at partnering with influencers and creators for content to produce content on their channels, as well as Aldo’s online channels.